Captured: A Gaara Love Story
by QueenElric19
Summary: Carmen's father had given her a simple order: Find a husband. With little time left before her deadline if up, she meets the infamous demon prisoner; Gaara. Is he what she's looking for? And what troubles await within a secret her father has kept from her all this time?
1. Prologue

Carmen Welkin was a simple girl.

Her hair was black and straight, her form was small, and her personality was agreeable. She did not complain often, unless stressed, and she was willing to take on the burdens of marriage even at her young age. Surely, this was the make-up of a simplistic woman, and surely there would be many men who would agree to her terms.

To this logic, she only wished for a simple man in return.

Carmen didn't need a lot of smoke and mirrors to impress her, and she also didn't need a handsome face. If you were a man, in her age group, and relativity pleasant, she would take you.

...And well...maybe it was more along the lines of... _she_ _ **had**_ _to take you._

Let's back up, shall we?

See, Carmen's father had proposed a deal.

If she could pick a husband, no matter who it may be, in one month, that would be it. They would be wed, and live happily ever after. No if, ands, or buts about it.

He didn't care if she picked up a lowly commoner off the streets; and he wouldn't care if she married someone he absolutely hated. Her father did not give her any restrictions in that respect.

All she was required to do, was find a husband.

So, Carmen had searched.

She started at the marketplace, and gradually migrated through the kingdom in search of worthy men. She checked every countless inn, and every stand set up in an attempt to sell a worthless product to those foolish enough to believe the seller's ludicrous claims. She looked in _every_ nook and cranny of the kingdom, but alas, even after three weeks of constant search, she had not found any men she would be willing to spend the rest of her life with. And now, as she was already two days into the next week, Carmen only had 7 days left until the deadline was upon her.

Basically, in her language, she was thoroughly screwed.

...See, it wasn't as if the bachelors of Sunagakure didn't want her, either. Carmen was very pretty, after taking after her mother. Her features flowed into each other as if she were a painting; the dimensions not being too big or too small, and her hair, a straight black curtain that reached just past her shoulder blades, perfectly mimicked the hairstyle her mother had worn every day of her life.

The hairstyle her mother had died wearing.

Indeed, Carmen was truly a perfect copy of the woman that had given birth to her, including the mysterious silver eyes that had captivated her father; the eyes that could captivate any man. She had the same eyes that made her strict as stone father fall in love.

But he still, somehow, and for whatever reason, hated her.

Carmen was quite sure that the reason all the men had recently begun to look the other way was because her father had threatened to kill them if they didn't. Of course, they didn't know that he wouldn't be _able_ to do so once she picked them, (because of the deal) but it wasn't like _she_ could convince them of that.

Truly, after the amount of meetings she had attended and spoken at, a grand total of zero, they had no idea of the brain she held behind her intriguing looks. All she was to them at the moment was a pretty face. They wouldn't listen to any claims she had, no matter how hard she tried to convince them.

...And in any case, though that annoyed her, what annoyed her the most, was that she could have easily snagged a man in a month at any other time, without her father's meddling. _She_ was the single most talked-about princess in all of Sunagakure. Any man, and every man, was at the very least, _interested_ , with her; a beautiful and mysterious woman, not to mention the fact that she was 18 now, the age that was considered the peak of beauty for _all_ women. Surely, she should have been able to seduce at least one of them to a point where they didn't even care about her father's warning, right?

...Yet the undeniable fact that so far, she had failed, rung like a resounding bell in her heart. The truth had just recently struck her, after she dropped the foolishly stubborn act, and she was now _quite_ sure that her fate was already determined. She couldn't find a man to marry her in a week; not under these circumstances.

 _No one could._

First with a sigh that progressed into something that was more of a moan, Carmen hissed and swore in the depths of her mind, thinking of her father and his impossible deal as she trailed about the castle.

Above everything else, even if any normal woman should have been worrying about the marriage itself, her father's warning was the only thing that hung over her head. It was as if a bucket filled with liquid poison was hanging there, only suspended by a thin rope threatening to snap at any moment.

 _...Find a husband, or_ I'll _find one for you._

Carmen had been _so_ sure of herself then. It was the millionth time they had had the same argument, and she wanted it to end.

It was all the same.

 _You should have been married off three years ago_ , he'd tell her. _No one would want to wed someone your age,_ he'd say.

Carmen was 18. Katherine, her sister, was 20; also single. Was she missing something?

Last Carmen checked, he wasn't harping on _Katherine_ to find a man. And truly, shouldn't her love life be a hundred times more important than Carmen's? Katherine was next in line for the throne, not her. _Katherine_ would be the one wedding the next king.

Not. Her.

Everything _should_ have been about Katherine, yet all her father did was lecture Carmen. It just wasn't fair.

...So, after being fed up with that very fact, she may have blurted out that she wanted to pick a man for herself. And her father, the man that she was sure had never once loved her, put the sickest of twists on her words.

If she didn't complete her end of the deal, she'd be married to whomever her father chose, even if the man he wished for his daughter to marry was an old pervert, and even if the man her father picked was the sickest of men.

Even if her father proclaimed that she was marry a dog, she would be forced to comply. The deal he had set was final, and completely non-negotiable. _Whoever_ he chose, she would marry. And needless to say, this was why she could _not_ allow herself to lose, no matter how hopeless it may have seemed.

Sure, her father was a stern, coarse man that sympathized with no one - not even his own daughter - but she could still outwit him somehow, couldn't she? It was no secret that he liked Carmen's older sister, Katherine, better, so perhaps she could think up some alternative that he wouldn't expect, for he didn't know the way Carmen thought. He had never taken the time to get to know her, so she could use that as an advantage.

...Though...let's just say that it didn't help that their father was, quite literally, the _king_.

It was his _job_ to expect the unexpected. That was how he won wars; that was how he knew how to govern a kingdom of unruly citizens. Her father was smart, just as she was. And it would be so, so very difficult to outsmart him.

...In her mind, Carmen was soon imagining what would happen when she ultimately lost their little battle. Really, there wasn't a chance of her ever winning, was there? He had tricked Carmen to pull her into this, and he would be able to trick her again. And she guessed, that just to punish her for disobedience, when she failed, he would choose one of the rich snobs from overseas for her to marry.

...No, she was not against tying the bonds between countries, but she had previously declined any attempt to get her to marry some pompous creep. And Carmen, though not usually selfish when it came to the betterment of the kingdom, intended to keep that refusal standing. She was still a princess, even when she didn't act like it. She should get to have at least a _bit_ of a say in what happened in her life.

And really, if she couldn't refuse a man that would only talk about himself and his newfound riches in every moment of their marriage, what _did_ she have?

Even as the quest to find her own choice man dragged on, Carmen was beginning to believe in her own lack of hope. Sooner rather than later, she would be led to sheer desperation. And sooner rather than later, she would be married; whether she passed or failed.

Even if Carmen was willing, the day a wedding band was slipped on her finger would still be utterly the same. She would ultimately be tied to the man who completed the action. She would have to be committed to someone she just met; she would have to pretend to love this man, even if she didn't.

Marriage was confinement in your own mind, and it would also become the main stress of her life. Her husband would want kids, and she would have to bear them. Her husband would expect her to do all of the things a wife should; she would have to clean, to do laundry, to cook, and to listen to his problems without complaint.

...And though marriage meant all of this: though marriage meant the inevitable loss of the freewill she had just recently obtained upon turning 18, Carmen was ready for it. She, being born into the royal family, had _always_ been ready for it.

She could take on whatever the world threw at her, for Carmen was equivalent to aged wine - kept in a special place, with extravagant conditions - waiting in angst for day it would be needed, becoming more valuable with each second that passed.

And according to her father, and truly, to _herself_ \- after a complete 18 years - she was ready.

She was old enough now. 18 years was long enough to get Carmen prepared for the day she would seal the binding ropes of marriage.

She had studied, practiced, and wept for such a day. She had spent her entire life cooped up in a castle for such a day.

...She had just never expected it to come so soon.

Carmen had never predicted such a proposal to make itself known, even though she _had_ turned 18 many months ago. Though her father liked to _say_ that 15 was a marriageable age, silently, they both seemed to agree that 18 would be the magic number for her. He didn't often show it, but he cared, though only slightly, for his daughter, and he didn't wish for her to have to take on the burden of having a husband so soon. Especially if said husband was looking for suitable heirs early in his lifetime.

So yes, Carmen probably should have prepared herself for this much more than she had. She had always known that the day she turned 18, she could potentially be married at any time, but still, she had tried to deny that fact.

In truth, she didn't really want to get married.

If it would save the kingdom from another war, sure, but this was...this was practically for nothing. What if she got married now, and then a few years down the road, an epidemic appeared, and it would have been better if she was still single? Would they force her to remarry? And more importantly, could she go through with that?

This scheme of her father's, to get her married, was impossible to figure out. There was no reason for his extreme insistence, especially since Katherine was not looking for a man as well; but it still didn't change the fact that this was happening.

This wasn't a crazy dream, or a nightmare for that matter, and she wasn't about to be told that it was all a joke.

Carmen would have to go through with marriage; no matter what.

...And it was up to her to make it a happy one.


	2. Chapter 1 - A Glimmer of Hope

"Look Carmen, just because I'm older than you, does _not_ mean that I have all the answers. You have to find out this stuff yourself!"

Carmen hissed before throwing back, "This isn't some math problem!"

Carmen, second princess of the Welkin Succession, generation six, currently stood in the room of her sister; Katherine Welkin, (crown princess of Sunagakure, next in line for the throne) after getting the grand idea that _maybe_ , her sister would have some advice for her.

She had wandered about the castle without a real purpose for _some_ time before the present moment. But then, suddenly, as she was just about to begin her fifth round of the main floor, her elder sister's face flashed through her mind. At that time, she had thought: _Katherine would be knowledgeable about these things, would she not? After all, she was 20 years old already…_

So, Carmen sped off in pursuit of her sister in an excited flourish; sure that her big sister would have all the answers.

She was wrong.

...It may be wise to add, at this point, that the two had been engaged in a heated argument for the past hour. Apparently it was... _improper_ of Carmen, to come to the first princess for love advice. _Apparently_ , that wasn't in her job description, and _apparently_ , Katherine wasn't having any of it.

"I don't know _where_ you got the idea that I'd be willing to help you, but I hope you understand that it's not going happen."

Carmen replied harshly. "Don't be such a jerk."

"Excuse me?!"

Perhaps, one might see such behavior as uncalled for in itself, but the Welkin sisters were used to it by now. Their constant arguing was calming, to a fault, and since such had been going on for the past 10 years at the very least, they had no intention of changing their ways.

As kids, they had once even ignored each other for two entire weeks in an attempt to win a bet that had come up in these arguments. The loser, they decided, would have to venture into the dungeons, alone, and stay there for the night.

Carmen was confident in her ability to win, even at the age of seven, but their father found out about their little agreement before _either_ of them had the chance to lose.

She remembered the night that he scolded them very clearly. Neither of them was allowed dessert for the next couple of days - she wasn't sure how many - and the King had pulled her aside to yell at her more fiercely after Katherine had left. Unfortunately, he was under the impression that all chaos, no matter how small, was _her_ fault.

Along with no dessert, Carmen was awarded a week of extra lessons in her usual free time.

...Though, even that didn't stop her from arguing with her sister. More bets were made, and the two learned to keep them a secret. Even the _king_ couldn't take away their twisted friendship; and even more so if he had no idea it was happening.

Carmen and Katherine were evil masterminds at the art of deception by the time they were teenagers. Only _little_ evil masterminds, at that point, but masterminds nonetheless. They could snatch a cake from the kitchen without anyone knowing, as long as they were together.

Separate, they were simply spoiled princesses. But together? _Together_ , they were an entire army.

The two Welkin sisters, generation six, had crossed a boundary that no one had ever crossed before. They were friends; even though they lived in completely different worlds. The elder was to one day be queen, and the younger would forever be only worth what an allied county wanted from her. But even still, they managed to love each other dearly, through all their banter.

Even the fact that in this day an age, Carmen could have been made a servant, just as well as she could have been married off, did not faze their friendship. Katherine was the big sister that liked to win above all else, and Carmen was her backup in order to cover for her. That was the way it always would be.

...At least, that's what Carmen had believed in years past.

Both of them would still, one day, no matter what they did, be torn apart from one another. Neither of them knew when that day would be, but they were both aware of its looming ominosity.

 _They wouldn't be best friends forever..._

"Are you listening to me?"

Perhaps Carmen should have built up a wall between them sooner than she had. And perhaps she should have been more... _intimidated_ by her older sister from the very beginning, for truly, she _was_ going to the queen someday. Carmen should have been scared of her from the start.

...But, it wasn't _her_ fault that Katherine had wedged her way into her life, was it? It wasn't _her_ fault that Katherine wasn't the least bit scary.

Sure, she threw some pretty terrifying fits, but those were just emotional outbursts; something that would _not_ rank you as 'intimidating' if performed often. And often, she did, so, no. Carmen's sister was not what you would call scary, or even the least bit standoffish. She just had a temper worthy of a three year old. And Carmen, though she was in fact, younger than her, had to deal with it.

But...she also didn't mind that she had to do that.

Carmen couldn't have asked for a better sister, even if she set the mold herself. Katherine wasn't perfect, but she was just what Carmen needed. She was her big sister. And no pathetic monarchy claims would ever change that.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm listening."

She let her eyes wander over to Katherine's as the momentary anger from their argument seeped out from her; spilling onto the floor. Her eyes glistened as if she were about to cry, but she held back any urges to led the tears shed. She just...felt so _hopeless_.

"Carm, what's wrong?" Katherine asked quietly. "Oh, wait, nevermind. Let's sit down."

Just as quickly as Carmen's anger had dissipated, so did Katherine's. Within moments, she had completely calmed down, and they both proceeded to sit down on the edge of Katherine's canopy bed. Carmen, was of course, sitting on the side closest to the door, just in case her sister's anger flared up again, and Katherine sat leisurely in a spot closer to the middle.

 _She would have to remind the servants to redo the sheets before nightfall._

Carmen spoke quietly. "What do you think I should do?" _Her voice had quivered._

Half expecting another onslaught of reprimands, Carmen let her head rest on her fingertips as she let out a deep sigh, hoping that her father wouldn't take notice of this weakness. If he saw her now, he'd think even less of her.

...After all, crying in front of him was the worst thing she could do right now.

"...Honestly, I don't know," came her elder sister's surprisingly fast reply.

"..."

Though only awkwardly, Carmen's silence was rewarded with a rough pat on the back from her 20 year old sister. With her other hand, she tossed some of her dark hair out of her face before mumbling, "I'm sorry you have to go through this."

Carmen was still silent as she stared at the richly carpeted floor, her eyes boring a hole in the center of it. This room was directly above the throne room, where her father usually spent his time. It would be so easy to storm down there right _now_ , and give him a piece of her mind...

So, so very _easy_ , and yet it would be just as simple for her father to toss her in the dungeons in return.

 _She couldn't defy the king. No one could defy the thing._

...Katherine then continued, her voice sounding strained. "Carm, I just… I don't know why he suddenly lumped all this on you. You're only 18, and I-" Her voice broke, and just as instantly as Carmen had been told of her father's deal, Katherine stopped talking.

Soundless tears streamed down her face as she pulled her younger sister in for a much needed hug. Carmen herself, was not yet crying, but with all of this, she felt like she just might. What good would a week do her, after she had failed this task for the past three?

Her status as a princess meant nothing anymore. She couldn't flaunt her _father's_ power to work around a roadblock the very same man had created, nor could she seduce any man that had already been threatened with his death. The deal her father had proposed was simply impossible. Even _her_ genius brain couldn't think of a counter solution.

 _She would just have to forfeit now, while she still had-_

"But don't you _dare_ give up," Katherine squeaked, somehow sounding assertive through the tears. Perhaps she _would_ be a worthy queen someday.

You're smarter than that. Go prove to our father that you _can_ outwit him." She sighed, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "I can't, but you can."

Carmen's eyes flashed open, and searched for her sister's gaze instantly, only to find it already on her; her eyes bloodshot, and her cheeks tear-stained.

"Go," she said strongly. "Go and make him admit defeat, and if you don't, I swear, you'll have to _actually_ stay the night in the dungeons, like we said when we were kids."

Katherine smiled, squeezing her younger sister in an embrace worthy of a snake. "Not saying I _want_ you to fail, but if you do, I hear the demon prisoner likes company," she joked, her voice cracking halfway through.

 _...The demon prisoner?_

"You mean, you know about...him too?"

Katherine frowned into her hair. "Of course. I am going to be queen someday, aren't I? I have to know this stuff." Carmen gaped at the wall. To think, even her stuffy sister knew about him.

The demon prisoner had interested her, had _intrigued_ her, from the very first time she had heard about him, which had been a year or so prior to the current date. The maids had been gossiping, and she had... _overheard_ something about a red-headed man that had been recently captured, attempting to escape his cell.

His name was unknown to her, but that just made it all the more interesting. He was just so...so…

Even though this man had messed with human life, in her mind, he still seemed to be nothing short of incredible. For some reason, Carmen believed that he was different than the other criminals locked in the castle dungeons. _This one_ had captured her entire being. _This one_ was the only thing that managed to distract her from thoughts of her marriage plan in these past three weeks.

And Carmen adored everything about the idea of him.

He had attempted escape a good four times now, at least; she had heard that much from the gossiping servants in the castle halls. And, apparently, he was young, as far as criminals go.

 _...Did that mean he was only a child? Or was he her age?_

There were so many questions about him that Carmen wished more than anything to be answered. She wanted to see his face, to see for herself if he really had the look of a murderer. Would his eyes be bloodshot? Where the guards feeding him enough?

 _Was-_

"Wow Carm, is this idea really that pleasing to you? You're smiling like an idiot."

With a start, Carmen blinked, realizing that she was still in her sister's room. Katherine herself, had drawn herself away from her, and now looked into her eyes; her hands resting on her shoulders.

"So she lives," Katherine muttered playfully, smirking.

Carmen retaliated with an, "Hmmph!" before wiggling away from her big sister, hiding her own smile. In fact, the idea of meeting the demon prisoner did sound pleasing. _Extremely_ so.

 _Perhaps she could just throw this..._

"Carmen," scolded her sister, already knowing what she was thinking. "My words still stand. Go and find a man."

Carmen smiled again, her entire outlook changing in just a single moment. Everything was suddenly clearer, and her eyes were brighter as she looked towards the future. Of course she wouldn't be able to succeed if she gave up now!

Carmen nodded at her sister firmly, pausing for only a moment before she stood once more, thanked her, and went to wander around the castle again; thinking non stop.

Firstly, about her own plan.

Secondly, about how her father would kneel before her brain in the near future.

And finally, in the farthest depths of her mind, about the miracle she would need to pull this off.


	3. Chapter 2 - An Exciting Development

Merely an hour or so after her little talk with Katherine, Carmen's fantasy about meeting the demon prisoner seemed to be coming true.

Previously, she had been wandering the castle halls, placing her entire being on the case of her marriage. She let her feet guide her, for they knew her usual rounds, and before long, she had traced every hallway in the castle, excluding the ones that were off limits to her. It was good exercise, no doubt, but it calmed her down, more than anything else, and while she was walking, Carmen felt that she was at the peak of her intelligence.

So far, she had come up with a _moderately_ cunning plan to trick her father with, and had considered a few back-up plans if the first happened to fail. All of this had been accomplished within the past sixty minutes, and Carmen took pride in her ability to strategize in the silence, because _ordinarily_ , nothing could distract her when she was like this.

But when she suddenly heard a servant shout, "The demon prisoner tried to escape again!" she couldn't help but drop everything to quench her curious mind.

At that comment, Carmen's head whipped to the side, and all marriage thoughts, which had been swirling in her head like a massive tidal wave, were completely and utterly forgotten.

Two frantic maids dashed through the halls, whispering loudly about the newest gossip.

...Surely, they weren't _really_ talking about _him_ again…?

It didn't seem like it was only a coincidence that Carmen had just been thinking about him earlier that day, did it? In her mind that was still on overdrive, this phenomenon seemed to be something more than just a simple turn of events. She was _meant_ to meet this man. And she had to do it today.

Carmen knew enough gossip about the prisoner as it was. She didn't need another day of listening to the maids talking to score more information on him. She already knew that he was said to be so terrifying that you could not even stand to look in his eyes.

She knew that he was said to be so demonic that many considered him to not even be human.

 _She knew_ that he was the element of fear in the hearts of every Sunagakure citizen.

And Carmen, to say the least, _really_ wanted to meet him.

"Servants!" she called ahead.

Immediately the two stopped, swiveling back around so they were facing her. "Yes Princess?"

Carmen smiled warmly. "You wouldn't _happen_ to be talking about the demon prisoner, would you?"

They stiffened, yet nodded, as if knowing that they couldn't lie to her.

"Yes, Princess. We were indeed, Princess."

Carmen smiled at them again. "And where is he being kept exactly?"

One of the maids gasped, as if she had caught on to what Carmen had been implying with her grin. "Princess, though I have no right to-"

"He's being held in the castle dungeons. Basement floor," cut in the other.

The first maid paled as Carmen's smile grew wider. "Thank you."

She wasted no time as she set off to the dungeons; with a sick smile on her face.

Her father could jump off a cliff, for all she cared. She already had a plan formed in her mind. She didn't need a week to execute it.

 _This_ was what she needed right now.

"Princess!" the servant yelled, catching up with slight difficulty, trying to match her quickened pace. "You can't!" The woman's heels made loud clicking sounds as she ran.

"Don't try and stop me," she answered firmly. "I need to meet this guy."

"-Princess!"

Carmen didn't give the maids another chance to talk her out of it. She ran, full speed, for the dungeons, her heart dead-set on talking with the demon prisoner.

 _Oh, how she had wanted to do this!_

In the distance, she heard the first maid yell, "Mel, you idiot! Why did you tell her?" But she continued on without a care. Carmen had to see, for herself, if he was really what they claimed him to be.

The rumors about him were vast, especially when he first appeared a good two years ago. And, now that she knew every one of them, word for word…

Honestly, at the moment, Carmen kind of felt like a crazed fangirl.

Maybe he would think she was a lunatic, if he indeed turned out to be a good person, as she saw him as. Maybe he would hate her for being so obsessed with his existence, and maybe he would refuse to let her visit him ever again.

But...it wasn't like it was _her_ fault that she had heard all those rumors in the first place. Those similar lines of gossip about him skyrocketed when he first appeared in the castle dungeons, and soon, the demon prisoner was a name that _everyone_ in Sunagakure knew. Indeed, as a princess, she should have known about him even more so than the maids. Even as a criminal, he was famous, and Carmen should have been warned fiercely to stay away from him, because he was so dangerous.

And well, obviously she hadn't been.

Instead, she had grown to admire him, though she did not even know his real name. She admired his many attempts at escape, and the way he had captured the attention of all the kingdom's citizens in such a short time. She admired his strong will; the will that had been able to keep his spirit strong and hopeful during these two longs years.

The admiration was linked so tightly to this man, that Carmen even adored him for keeping his identity such a secret. She doubted that _anyone_ actually knew his name, and for that, though she wished to know his name herself, she respected the demon prisoner more than she respected her own father.

 _...Perhaps a name like...Shade...would fit..._

So often, over the past two years, her mind had been led to think of him. It wasn't a romantic type of feeling, for she couldn't really _love_ someone she had never seen or met, but the unbreakable sense of admiration ran strongly through her system every time he appeared in her thoughts.

The citizens of Sunagakure seemed to also always have him on their minds as well, but that had no doubt calmed down about the issue after the castle guard improved their security around the dungeons. It wasn't often anymore that she would hear any news of a breakout like this, and quite honestly, the rareness of it, and frankly the _fear_ of it, excited her.

Carmen wasn't yet worried for her safety or anyone else's, for she hadn't heard a single siren, but the news of the demon's attempt still _did_ send a frightful chill down her spine. As she ran, nearing the dungeon's entrance, she wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her upper arms. Rather suddenly, the air around her had gotten very chilly.

Another few minutes passed, with half developed thoughts swirling through her head.

 _Would he….no…..what would he…..no….._

...And Carmen quickly became so concentrated on trying to form a proper sentence that she didn't even notice when her surroundings abruptly changed for the worse.

The velvet carpets suddenly ended, leaving only dirt covered cement and stone, and any existence of tapestries were blocked by torches that hung on the walls. ...Truly, the kingdom of Sunagakure had entirely stereotypic dungeons...

Carmen sped through these halls as fast as her feet would carry her, for fear that she would chicken out and turn around if she slowed even a bit. Soon enough though, she came upon a dainty little wooden desk, at which a large, old man with a dirt-filled beard sat.

There was no going back now.

Immediately upon noticing her, which was a little delayed because he was half asleep, he stood and shook the chair away, causing it to the clatter to the floor.

She knew him from his profile, which she recognized to be that of the jail warden's.

 _...Carmen had forgotten about him..._

After standing, the warden quickly attempted to welcome her as he gestured with grimy, muscled arms. "Princess Carmelia! I didn't know you'd be visiting!" he laughed. "I would've cleaned up, had I known."

Sighing, she replied, "Of course you would have." _How she hated kiss-ups._

Annoyingly, the warden seemed to be a talkative fellow, and as he was still trying to use his abysmal hospitality, he babbled on with, "Speaking of which, why _did_ you come, Princess? Not that it's a bad thing. I'm very happy to have you-"

Not being able to stand just... _standing_ there, she cut him off, just as she had cut off the maids.

"The demon prisoner. I want to meet him."

The frankness of her request must have shocked him somehow, for for a few moments, the warden stood still, stunned. _The princess_ couldn't possibly _want to go anywhere near the biggest danger to Sunagakure, right?_

Though even if he believed he had heard her wrong, he nodded and gestured with his beefy arm to a dimly lit hall behind him.

"This way."


	4. Chapter 3 - The Man I Wish to Marry

Together, Carmen and the warden walked through the cramped passageways of the dungeons; Carmen silently observing the hastily built architecture, and the warden swinging a large lamp in his right fist as if he didn't have a care in the world.

They had descended down multiple flights of stairs by now - all of them made of crumbling concrete - and had made it to the absolute _lowest_ floor in all of the castle. There were cells for prisoners to be kept in on every side; some occupied, and some empty, and Carmen stopped to wonder how one, single warden was able to take care of all of them. The half of the cells that _did_ have someone living in them all seemed to have freshly supplied stocks, meaning that their food and water dishes, though only befitting the appearance of a dog, were all full.

...Either the food tasted _awful_ , or the warden was _very_ dedicated to his job.

In any case, as they walked past, the prisoners continued to give her dirty looks, and mutter curses once they thought she was out of range. Obviously, since she could hear them, she wasn't, but Carmen wasn't about to reprimand them. She didn't want a group of men that were already criminals on her bad side, at least more than they already were.

They _did_ seem to respect the warden, however, and many of them smiled, or cracked a joke as he passed them. Many of them even lowered their heads, as if they had their own system of monarchy down here in these darkened halls. The warden, apparently, was their King.

"So Princess," said man began. "What _does_ bring you here? I know you mentioned that Demon Prisoner hullabaloo, but...why?" His hairy arms twitched as a sudden whoosh of cold air came upon them. Carmen took that as a sign that they were close.

"I just wanted to meet the source of all these rumors, I suppose," she answered truthfully, glancing at the cells that were becoming more and more empty as they made it closer to what she assumed would be the final turn.

His eyebrows scrunched up as if he were still confused, but a laugh nonetheless came out of his large, overbearing mouth. "Not my place to tell you what you can and can't do, now is it?" he said boisterously.

"No it is not."

"My apologies, Princess, I shouldn't have questioned you from the start. It was just this wild brain off its hinges again!" Once more, he laughed, but this time Carmen did not allow herself to cringe at the sound of it echoing back to her within the stone walls. They were making the last turn, and she instantly felt that she needed to concentrate on what lied ahead.

Surprisingly, soon enough the warden fell silent beside her as well, and they walked towards the only cell in the corridor in an eerily quiet shuffle.

Carmen's breath was caught in her throat as she stared at a single chamber, the _only_ chamber, so deep in the underground tunnels that it was hard to breathe. It was guarded with a large iron door at the entrance, firmly bolted to the stone, and locked with thick chains. She briefly wondered why so much effort was put to keeping the prisoner inside, compared to the others, which had just been closed with metal bars, but just as quickly, she remember that this was the _demon_ prisoner.

 _He_ had _tried to escape multiple times now, hadn't he?_

Wordlessly, the warden stepped forward and began unlocking lock after lock, and then inserted a long series of numbers into a keypad inside a little door that he had flipped open. She attempted to memorize the pattern of these numbers, but after a good ten of them in no particular order, she was forced to give up. She was intelligent enough, but her memory was nowhere close to photographic.

"Honestly, I don't think he's even worth your time, Princess," the warden stated casually, now beginning to force the heavy door outward with minimal effort, quickly after he had concluded the password. "He's not as exciting as all the villagers seem to think, so try not to be too disappointed…"

The door now open, the warden stepped back, gesturing again with his large arms for her to walk forward.

 _...It was now or never,_ Carmen thought, albeit a little nervously.

She stepped forward and into the cell cautiously; for some reason expecting the so called demon to leap from the shadows and strike her down where she stood. Surely it wouldn't be too hard a task for a murderer, even with the extensive defensive lessons she had been forced to take as a child.

...Carmen was also just as cautious as she took the second set of steps, but apparently, she did not expect anything to immediately reach her from the ground. Within nothing more than a few seconds inside, she found herself spiraling face-first towards the floor, after she had tripped over something that felt suspiciously like a body…

Without the warden there, surely, her face _would_ have hit the coarse ground, and surely, she would be in a heck of a lot of pain at this very moment. But to her surprise, and not exactly what she would call delight, she soon realized that she was in the warden's large arms. Instantly upon noticing this, she straightened herself and sped away from him, muttering a feeble apology, and attempting to check if his smell was on her.

Her dress had been slightly soiled, which would not please her father, but at least she was unharmed. _That_ would be a huge turnoff for anyone she tried to recruit for marriage, especially if it was on her face...

Carmen's thoughts were soon cut off as she heard a loud thumping sound, and she swiveled her head to the side as fast it would turn, only to hear the warden sneer, "How dare you get in the Princess's way!" as his thick leather boot made contact with the body's stomach.

She immediately gasped, though she soon wished she did not make any sound, for she almost missed the soft wince of the man on the floor, who she assumed was the demon prisoner.

He himself did not make any further noise as the warden proceeded to kick him again, and only the sickening sound of cracking ribs resounded through the damp cell. Though the warden made slow, undeniably blocky and easily avoidably movements, each hit connected, and Carmen soon found herself wondering why they gave a man that couldn't even fight back against a blundering fool so much attention. But it was then that she realized that the prisoner was bound by chains, and heavy ones at that.

These held him to the floor by each of his limbs, and though he was given a little slack, there was no way he would ever be able to defend himself in such a state.

A surge of pity quickly rushed through Carmen, and she commanded, "Stop!" as loudly as she could, for fear that the warden would not hear her over the sound of his own enjoyment.

The warden _did_ hear her however, and paused, halfway into another kick, as he turned back to her; looking extremely confused.

"Princess…?"

Silently, Carmen fumed at him, and clenched her fists, trying to keep her temper from exploding. He shouldn't be able to take cheap shots like that, and even if the demon prisoner was guilty of murdering those people, the warden had no right to abuse another human being.

 _What if the demon had been doing a justice by killing those men? What if it had been in defense? What if..._

Carmen trailed off as another sound graced her ears. This one was much softer than anything she had heard previously, and she soon found herself realizing that the warden could not hear it. He still stared at her, with that idiotically puzzled look on his face, probably wondering what he should do.

Sure, she was puzzled herself - about the noise, anyway - but she wasn't about to stand there with her mouth hanging open like a total moron.

"Why don't we...sit down," she offered as calmly as possible. "I have a few questions."

The warden nodded, again raising his arm to show her the way to a hard looking bed in the corner, as if she didn't know where it was. Carmen briefly entertained the thought that a bed was completely unnecessary if the prisoner was always chained to the floor, but she soon decided to overlook it, for it was possible that he wasn't _always_ bound like this.

 _...At least she hoped he wasn't._

With a grimace, she sat on the dusty bed - if one could call what she found to be a board with a sheet on it, a _bed_ \- and looked down at the prisoner before her, from which she guessed the soft noise had come from. The warden followed her actions, but instead glanced at the wall, as if he found the situation to be awkward, for whatever reason.

Perhaps it was better that he didn't see her looking though, for soon after she sat down, the demon prisoner, as if sensing her stare, raised his head to look at _her_ , even with the threat that the warden would kick him down again.

For a moment, Carmen didn't even allow herself to scowl at the thought of the warden's heartless actions, for as the demon looked up, he seemed to be searching for her eyes.

Instantly she noticed that his left eye was swollen shut, but she paid it no mind as she met the other, calmly and coolly, as if the two young strangers were simply passing by each other on the street.

And, for the life of her, Carmen couldn't tell why _anyone_ would think his eyes were frightening.

This man's eyes, or even as she saw it, _eye_ , was...

"No disrespect to you of course, but I can't even imagine why you decided to visit him." The warden cut into her thoughts.

Carmen bit down on her tongue, forcing the misgivings she longed to make known disappear.

She couldn't snap yet.

"I-"

"He's really just an idiot. I ask him questions, and he never answers. I mean, maybe he doesn't even speak our language…"

He trailed off with extra thoughts, nodding to himself. "I mean really, Princess, I don't think I've _ever_ heard him speak. He's been here for two years, and has not said a word."

He shook his head with unnecessary vigor. "That would drive me crazy, not talking for so long! This voice needs exercise!" He laughed again; the booming sound echoing against the stone walls of the dungeon. Carmen, politely, joined him and chuckled; though hers was undeniably fake, as she was actually quite angry inside.

She quit after just a few moments.

"Warden, just who is this _demon_?" She asked, a pleasant tone laced within the gaps of her false smile. She still looked into said man's eye as she spoke, unbeknownst to the warden.

The demon prisoner was watching her every move.

"Oh, him?" He asked loudly, gesturing wildly with his thumb to the man she had inquired about.

 _...Obviously_ she was talking about him. No one else was there.

"Well, I think his name was Gaara of the Desert or something…" He said, a _little_ bit quieter.

 _...Gaara..._

"Pretty crazy dude if you ask me. The report said he was a murderer, I think? Somehow he pulled it off with a bunch of sand. I mean, that's gotta be an accomplishment in itself..."

 _Sand, eh? ...Interesting..._

"Is that so?"

"Yeah!" he cheered. "There was a whole article about him! Five pages, too. You don't see that every day, now do ya?"

"No, you really don't," she answered rather happily, clasping her hands together.

 _He was just as entertaining as she had thought._

"Four guys dead in one night because of the man right in front of you, Princess. Isn't that scary?"

"Not real-"

"But don't worry! Wardy here'll protect you."

Carmen winced slightly, shuddering at the thought of this man ever trying to act suave and save her. He was too awkward to be a hero, and already too conceited to ever get any recognition.

Truly, it was a good thing that this man was a warden. If he ever tried to live openly in the kingdom, he'd be dead long before he could even open his mouth.

 _Though, it wasn't like that would be a bad thing…_

The warden still spoke boisterously about the vast knowledge he supposedly had about the prisoner, but Carmen allowed herself a few moments to her thoughts; though she still glanced at Gaara out of the corner of her eye.

He wasn't as scary as all the villagers and servants had claimed. If anything, he had a little bit of a calming look about him, though that was undeniably topped by deep sadness. Briefly, she wondered just what it was that plagued him. Sure, prison was reason enough, but for some reason, Carmen felt like this might be...more.

After he had raised his head to look at her for the first time, he had not moved, and he still held her gaze, as if he was examining her just as much as she was, him. Perhaps he was memorizing her hair color, just as she had found that he had a head full of shaggy reddish-brown hair. Perhaps he was noting how neatly her black hair had been styled, and comparing it to his own head of hair, which stuck out in every direction, as if it had not been touched in years.

...Perhaps, he was examining her body; _perhaps_ liking what he saw. Carmen was pretty - she knew she was, and would not deny the fact - but after a quick moment to think about it, she realized that something told her he was not very interested in the physical aspect of things. From his intense stare, she could only deduce that he wanted to know what she was _thinking_.

Carmen smiled, winking at him as she turned her attention back to the warden just in time to say politely, "Oh really?" before she launched into another question.

"Tell me, how old is this man then?"

The warden, just as expected, knew the answer to this, and replied immediately.

"He's 22, Princess," he told her with a surprisingly frightening smile. "Can't believe Sunagakure has put up with him for this long, though. Had it been up to me, I would have had his head years ago."

Carmen's own smile, though fake when directed toward the warden, immediately darkened at these words, and she soon found herself biting her tongue again in an attempt to stop herself from pulling out the knife she had concealed under her skirt, and slicing his throat.

How _dare_ he think he could mess with this man's life.

"I don't think killing him would help him atone for his sins," Carmen said firmly. "And though it surprises me greatly, my father agrees with this opinion, so I would watch what you say, lest I report you to him myself."

The warden stiffened, nodded, and then muttered, "Meant no harm, Princess."

"Of course you didn't. Consider yourself forgiven."

The look on his face was pathetically grateful, and now instead of the need to kill him, Carmen had to try and stifle her scoff. He was a pathetic shell of a man that didn't even deserve her blade.

And no, he also didn't even deserve to be murdered by the demon prisoner either.

Carmen soon failed to keep herself from showing him some sign that she was not amused, and she clicked her tongue in such a way that could only demonstrate the annoyance of a spoiled princess. His face fell instantly, and quickly after, his head hung down in a state of shame, as if he knew what she was thinking.

She so wanted to curse this man for all he was worth, but as she saw this fallen state, she could only sigh, and feel pity for such a man. He was just pathetic.

If anything, _he_ should be the prisoner; _he_ should be the one locked up in a room full of sorrows.

It shouldn't be this so called demon prisoner, for something told her...something told Carmen that this demon was an innocent one.

Maybe not _entirely_ blameless, and maybe his hands were not fully clean of their share of blood, but he was innocent of the crime he had committed, as far as she was concerned.

...There was just something about the way he looked at her...

Carmen found herself liking this man more every second, and she wondrously began to compare him to herself; to compare him to the aged wine that she had thought of before.

This man - Gaara - was ready to be free and out into the world, just as she was. He had even gotten four extra years, in her father's book.

Had the entire village not been so terrified of him, surely he would be wed to a beautiful woman by now, and surely as well, that woman would love him with all of her heart. His eyes just had a way of talking to you without saying a word, and Carmen knew that he would be quite a handsome fellow once he was cleaned up a bit, as well as the fact that-

….As well as the fact that…

...Marriageable age…

…

 _ **Wait.**_

Suddenly, hundreds of thoughts, hundreds of memories, popped into her mind all at once.

 _...Her father…_

 _...Anyone…_

 _...No restrictions in that area..._

With a sudden realization, Carmen found the gears in her head to begin turning so fast that they may as well have been visible. She had a _grand_ idea.

 _Gaara was a man. He was relatively close to her age. He was handsome enough to impress her father. She liked him._

He fit all of the qualifications.

 _...Gaara was perfect..._

Carmen beamed at the warden, though mostly to herself, feeling a high like she had never felt before this day. This was what her dull, dull life needed. This was what she had been waiting for; this was the man she had been waiting for.

She needed this demon prisoner.

"Warden?" She spoke into the darkness with a grin, her previous plan crumbling to the floor.

"Call my father. _This_ is the man I want to marry."


	5. Chapter 4 - Another Secret to be Kept

"Carmelia, just who is this man?"

Currently Carmen - or _Carmelia_ , according to the rest of the world - stood in the presence of her father.

He stared down from his throne at her in a rather condescending manner, burning a hole through her head with his unnecessarily intense gaze.

"I told you already, Father," she replied. "This is the man I wish to marry."

 _This_ was the point at which she usually began to feel intimidated by his gaze. She would start to get nervous, her voice would start cracking, and all previous thoughts of overpowering her father were spilled out onto the floor.

...But today was a different story. _Today,_ she had someone to stand against him with her, even if that someone was a wanted man.

"I don't recall ever meeting him," her father continued thoughtfully.

The only reason her father did not know what the demon prisoner looked like, was because he did not concern himself with the affairs of the dungeon. _That_ he left to the warden he had appointed, and for once, his ignorance had saved her. Carmen was so grateful for her father's ego, that she would have gladly jumped off a cliff.

"The dungeon warden presented him to me, Father. Truly, I don't know him either, but this _has_ to be what love at first sight is!"

After Carmen pulled out the knife she kept hidden under her skirt at the warden, wielding it with an eerie confidence, he had been sworn to secrecy; returning to his post without another word to the king. This gave her the assurance that he, the blundering fool that he was, would not leak anything more than he needed to, to her father.

The story they decided on, was that Gaara was another guard who watched over the prisoners, and Carmen had become smitten with him while he was receiving food from the kitchen for the inmates. She had then followed him, so blinded by the strong emotion of love at first sight, that she did not even realize she had wandered into the stone tunnels. The warden introduced them, Gaara admitted to being attracted to the princess as well, and the rest was history.

 _For now_ , as long as her father didn't actually take a stroll down there himself, she was safe.

"Oh, really?"

...But well, in any case, it was indeed the demon prisoner standing next to her, even if her father didn't know it. Carmen had gotten the maids to tend to his wounds, and get him cleaned up before their audience with the king. To her delight, the product was pleasing.

Gaara's eye had been treated, and it was now only slightly red, but still open, making him now able to see just as any other person would again. The scuff marks, scrapes, and bruises had been concealed with makeup, and he had taken a much needed shower. The scruffy looking beige shirt that reached to his mid-thighs, and trousers of the same color that had numerous holes in every square inch - which he had been wearing previously - had been replaced with a dark blue, formal kimono. This clashed with his now bright red hair; which was much flashier than it had been back in his cell, and Carmen found that she liked this shade even more.

His form was smaller than most of the other men she had visited in the past few weeks, but it was undeniably toned - mostly in the stomach and arm area - like he worked out every waking moment.

...Maybe that _was_ what he did. Not like he really had much else to do in prison…

His feet, which were once bare, were now decked with high quality cotton socks, showing that from head to toe, he was a changed man.

...But his _expression_ ; solemn, yet blank, had not changed in the slightest. Through it all, Gaara had not said a word, and honestly, it bothered Carmen.

When in the sanctity of her own thoughts, she couldn't deny that she really did not know this man. Trying to convince her father was a different story, for she was prideful of her acting, but while sitting in a mindless daze; her mind directed at nothing but _Gaara_ , she couldn't help but feel a little trapped. And, perhaps, a little cheated and lied to.

Obviously, it wasn't Gaara's fault that he was here. He had no obligation to actually like her, but Carmen was still struck by the unfairness of it all with an intensity that was very foreign to the usually pampered princess. Yes, she had surely thought it unjust when her father favored her sister over her, but that didn't affect her as much as this did.

Gaara wouldn't even _look_ at her, much less whisper comforting words in her ear so as to not allow her resolve to break in front of her father. That was what Carmen wanted from a husband, and yet Gaara, a man with a rank and status that hung in the shadows compared to hers, dared to be stoic and silent when she clearly needed his help. He knew that she was having trouble convincing her father, no matter how incredible her persuasive skills were.

If her so called husband wouldn't even glance at the woman he, quote on quote, "Loved so dearly that not being allowed to marry would tear him apart", _anyone_ would get suspicious.

Her father was an intelligent man. He wasn't about to be fooled by a couple of amateurs.

"You wouldn't happen to be lying to me, would you? My dearest _Carmelia_?" The king spoke her name with such venom that Carmen flinched out of shock.

Still though, she clung to the helpless act, and begged Gaara silently to come out of his stupefied position and aid her.

"N-No, Father." _She cursed herself for stuttering._ "I would never lie to you."

For a moment, the king seemed to be slightly impressed. A brief look of recognition crossed his face, and his soft, trimmed and graying mustache raised on his lips as he poised them in a position that said he was considering her words. He nodded, and then his cold demeanor came back just as quickly as it had left.

"Prove it then," he said; clasping his hands under his chin. "Show me that your love is as strong as you say it is."

...A loud, drumming sound rang in Carmen's ears as her father's words echoed into the depths of her mind; drilling into her very core as she let out a shaky breath. _She hadn't prepared for this._

 _Him asking her how they had met, she had prepared for._

 _But she hadn't prepared for this._

For many, painfully slow moments, Carmen couldn't think of anything. There was no solution forming in her usually dependable mind, and beads of sweat trickled down her temple, as if trying to demonstrate as loudly as possible, how nervous she was. She was so screwed, Carmen's own sweat was mocking her.

If she hadn't have said that she wasn't lying, this wouldn't have been a problem. Her father knew that she had never had any relations with a man, so there was no reason to suspect that she could have actually fallen in love in the time span he had offered. Just now, by telling him that she truly loved this man, Carmen had dug her own grave.

Her father had her playing right into his hands, and he knew it. The disguise he had worn previously was falling off, and his smirk, which he had been hiding all this time, now shone brilliantly on his face. He knew he had gotten her, and if she didn't do anything soon, there would be punishment unlike anything she had even seen waiting for her.

...All of this; the threat of her father's punishment for her lying to him, and the possibility of her _actually_ outsmarting him, led her to think, that as long as she was already wedged into her father's sadistic quicksand, why not take a few risks? Why not go along with his plan? _Why not grab his hand, and pull him in as well?_

Carmen smiled back at her father, squeezing her eyes shut with horribly masked disgust.

"Sure, Father. What would you like me to do?"

Also smiling, thrilled beyond words with his daughter's determination, the king stood up from his throne and walked forward to place his hand under Carmen's chin, tilting it upwards so he was looking directly into her eyes. All of this was done in one, fluid motion, as he also spoke, "Surprise me."

Taking this as a serious challenge, as well as a hidden declaration of war, Carmen nodded once more, stepping away from her father as he relinquished his hold on her. Without hesitation, or even a single hitch in her step, she closed the distance of a few feet that separated her and Gaara, and leaned in as close as she could without knocking him over.

"My apologies," she spoke into his ear, allowing her father to think that she was being more seductive than she currently was, "but could you play along as well?"

As her words bit into the harsh tension that surrounded the room's inhabitants, Gaara nodded, a jerky movement that her father could also misinterpret to be something else. For the second time since she had met him, there was a strange, mystifying light in his eyes.

 _Carmen wasn't about to lose this battle without putting up a fight._

She clutched the front of his kimono with her twitching fingers to keep them from shaking, and leaned in towards the demon prisoner even further; pausing only as their noses touched.

From this close, it was almost like Carmen could see into his mind through his eyes, and his emotions streamed through clearly. There was confidence, amusement, and confusion in those eyes, but to her relief, no anger, as far as she could see. No reluctance, either.

 _...Perhaps she would have liked to see a little lust, but with this, surely it was good enough..._

From there, Carmen shifted her face so they no longer touched, but then slowly made her way closer, and closer still, until she could smell the hefty cologne the servants had sprayed him with to cover up the musk of the dungeon. She smiled, inhaling deeply, and with surprising calmness, pressed her lips to his.

The kiss was nothing special.

Gaara lifted one of his hands to rest on the back of her head, and her fingers tightened their grip on the silk fabric of his clothes, but it was undeniable to both of them that there was no true feeling present. Carmen could admit that Gaara was a handsome man, but at this point, he was still a stranger.

The love at first sight theory seemed pretty foreign at the moment.

His lips tasted strangely of graham crackers and honey, making her wonder briefly if he had eaten some previously, while she was not looking. Also, quite briefly as well, she wondered what she tasted like to him, but the thought was of course, short lived, as they broke apart; staring in each other's eyes for a few seconds, as if both wondering what the other felt about the matter, before Carmen turned back to her father.

"Since I have never had a boyfriend, I would never kiss a man so easily. Surely, this proves that I love him."

Her father still looked at her with a smirk, yet again slightly impressed with her performance, and also still sure that she was lying through her teeth.

Carmen herself, was also rather pleased with her idea.

"I suppose we have a wedding to plan, then," he said; his voice lacking the usual contempt. "I look forward to working with you as well, my new son.

"And as for both of you, take care. I sense that there might be a little trouble for the two of you in the future."

...With one final smile at her father, Carmen made her way out of the throne room, dragging a dazed looking demon prisoner with her.


	6. Chapter 5 - First Day on the Job

It was her first full day of being engaged to Gaara, and Carmen had no idea what to do.

After her audience with the king, the pair had been left alone to do whatever they pleased. The servants were ordered to only bother them if specifically asked to, and not a single person was allowed into the castle for a visit.

Even her father, who Carmen had expected to pester them about the little details of their relationship, had not made an appearance since their little chat. They were figuratively, (because in reality, they didn't even have each other) and literally, _alone_.

…Currently, said pair sat in the castle gardens, admiring the plants, but not really speaking. Gaara had looked rather out of place in his kimono, even though Carmen thought it complimented his features, so it had been exchanged for some simple silk trousers and a series of expensive jackets. Carmen herself now wore a light blue gown that stretched past just past her knees; with intricate lace surrounding her neck.

 _It had been her mother's._

While Gaara was marveling at the richness of the world around him, Carmen had taken a bit of time to evaluate her situation. She had gone over the necessity to keep her real relationship with Gaara secret many times now, in her mind, but no matter how many times she tried to assure herself that her father would never find out, just as many scenarios of their plan crumbling crashed through as well.

She couldn't really _plan_ for the event that the king would one day realize that his daughter's husband was the demon prisoner. After all, once he knew, there would be no going back. Both of them, even though the only one to blame was Carmen, would most likely be killed for the act of deceiving the king, for it was considered treason, there in the land of Sunagakure. Carmen could even picture the look of disgust on her father's face, as vividly as if it was happening at that very moment, staring down at her from his too-tall throne as he learned of her secret. She could see his overturned lip, and the slightest shake of his head in disappointment. She could imagine, right then and there in the royal gardens, the end of their little game.

All of this, from the very beginning, had been a game to her father. Finding a husband was a game. Teasing her while she introduced Gaara was a game. Surely, throwing her in the dungeons for the rest of her life would surely be a game as well.

Her father knew what he was doing. He knew how to play his own little sadistic game, for he had been practicing for years. Since Carmen had little to no experience, he was sure to win.

… _At least, that's what he thought._

Even with all of this, Carmen could still _attempt_ to prevent her father from ever finding out. As long as the distance between her father and Gaara remained, and as long as he continued not to care about even the man she was going to marry, they would be safe. The king would simply believe that Carmen had found him in the one inn he had _not_ threatened with death, if they tried to accept her marriage proposal. He would simply be impressed with her surprisingly reliable seductive skills.

Alexander the third, fifth king of Sunagakure, would be fooled by his very own daughter, and she would take that horrible, dirty secret to her well-deserved grave.

Yeah. That was how the story would go.

Years from now, this tale would be in the textbooks she was forced to study as a child. Her future children, and their children, and their children, would read of her valiant efforts. They would identify with her character, and understand why she did what she did. They would admire Carmen for her attempts to cheat the system. They, even if her father never would, would forgive her for lying.

… _Yeah._

Truth be told, Carmen was still scared. She liked to pretend that she was some big, scary genius that held the entire world in the palm of her hand, but she really wasn't. That, was the very definition of what her father was, and that, was also why she was so terrified of clashing with him.

The short trial they had had while introducing Gaara, where Carmen had even gotten _sweaty_ due to the intensity of their conversation, was nothing to him. Her nervousness was amusing to her father, for something of that standard was quite literally, nothing, to the man who had made countless men fall to his feet. To the man who had conquered nations with only a single command.

To her father, Carmen was hardly a threat.

Her futile attempts would still end up, one day, as just that. Futile. Once he got bored of this game, he would expose her for what she was, and move onto the next; no second daughter needed.

Even this sudden marriage craze would be thrown in the gutter sooner or later. For now, he was interested, and _cared_ about planning this sick joke of a wedding, but once something - even something small - began to seem no longer as interesting as it used to be, out the window it would go. Her father's attention span might not even _last_ to the day of her wedding.

Often, a week was his limit, so a week he had set for the wedding date. One week, was all Carmen had to prepare herself, mentally and physically, to be married to a man that might one day turn on her with a knife while she slept.

…Yes, she felt that Gaara was safe _enough_ , but her all too soon death was within reason, when you really thought about it.

Death was his only occupation.

Death was his only pleasure.

And death would surely be her fate.

"I simply cannot believe that you live here."

An hour had passed, and Carmen and Gaara had migrated to the sanctity of her room. The servants had been given the order to begin the preparations for dinner, so the constant growling of her stomach would soon be tended to, but they were still the only company the other had.

Katherine had visited them in the gardens for a short spell, where she had thoroughly embarrassed Carmen with her tales of their childhood adventures for a good ten minutes. Gaara had surprisingly seemed very interested in these simple stories, and once, she had sworn she had seen him crack a smile as Katherine expressed Carmen's displeasure with being forced to kiss a frog in their younger years.

That evening, the two princesses had read a certain story, about a princess kissing a frog, which turned him into a prince. Carmen was young and gullible then, so she had tried it herself.

To clarify, the frog didn't do anything; other than jump on her head.

…But, anyway, that story was for another time. After that, Carmen had shooed Katherine away, for she feared she couldn't take much more embarrassment. Even now, the experience of seeing Gaara grin at the memory was still warm in her stubborn heart, and her cheeks flared up once more as they sat together on her bed.

"Is something wrong?"

It was odd, to say the least, hearing Gaara speak. He did it like it was so natural – which it should have been – yet Carmen found that it sent shivers running down her spine. Perhaps it was the fact that he had not spoken to her, even once, until they had made it to her room, or perhaps it was the simple fact that he was a murderer. Whatever the case was, Carmen was simply lost in the hums and dips of his husky tremor.

"I was just remembering before." She paused, the second time, speaking quieter. "Again."

Gaara didn't laugh, as anyone else would've, at that moment. He smiled slightly, yes, but his emotions were still hidden for the most part as she let out her more comical side.

It was to be expected, surely, after not speaking with anyone for the past two years of your life, but Carmen still found his stoic nature odd, compared to her usually expressive one.

They were just so… _different_ , enough that it even made Carmen stop to wonder if it was really a good idea to marry a man with such vast opposing features. Yes, she had no other option, no other cookie cutter mold of a man to fall back on, but it still scared her a little to think that Gaara was her only chance at survival.

 _Could he really fool her father?_

 _And could she?_

 _Could-_

"Is that really all? You look troubled."

Soft, strong arms then draped themselves around her; blocking her movements in an eerie fashion, no doubt, but still sending a sense of protection coursing through her. She allowed her own to wrap around the man who had hugged her as well.

"I am not used to doing this," Gaara confessed suddenly. "I do not know if this is what I should have done. Do you hate it?"

Carmen simply snuggled her face deeper into the silk fabric of his shirt. The embrace was awkward, and still, just like the kiss, void of any romantic feelings, but it was sweet. This was all the assurance she needed that Gaara was the only man for the job.

"No. I don't hate it," she told him slowly.

And together, after the long day, and in preparation for the even _longer_ week ahead of them, they fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 6 - The Real Demon

In the attempt to stay as far away from her father as possible, Carmen had taken Gaara into town.

Together, they had migrated through the city; looking at this, stopping to experience that, and for the most part, he had again, been silent throughout the entire journey. It seemed that his momentary openness, from back when they had talked in her room, had been just that. _Momentary_. With just a simple snap of his fingers, the sweet mood was gone.

Now, the current time was at least half past four, and Carmen still hadn't gotten him to mutter anything more than a couple short answers; mostly consisting of the common phrases, 'yes' and 'no'. She couldn't decide if it made her intrigued or annoyed, but whatever the case was, it didn't change the fact that she practically traveling alone.

...So far, they had gotten a total of seven odd souvenirs on their little shopping spree - using but a _fraction_ of Carmen's allotted spending money - that included foreign objects she had never seen before. There was a series of similarly shaped pointed objects, that Gaara called 'kunai', a handful of throwing stars, and a pack full of long, extremely sharp-looking needles. That was only to name a few.

Gaara had not struck her as one to go on a shopping craze, but then again, he _had_ purchased _weapons_.

 _Carmen would have to sleep with an eye or two open, from now on._

But, well, even if what they had bought was dangerous, Carmen still had more than enough finances for dinner. And that, at the current moment anyway, was good enough for her.

"Are you ready to get something to eat?"

Previously, Gaara had mentioned that his favorite dish was ramen, during a little 'get to know you' session that she liked to have with him; even if she was often the only one to participate. And, though she found his choice of food strange, considering what kind of man Carmen had dubbed him to be, it still wasn't technically unheard of, so Carmen didn't really mind it.

She was in the mood for some pasta anyway.

"Mhmm," he confirmed; turning his head to face her with a sudden, jerky movement.

As their eyes met fully, for the first time since their kiss, he seemed to have something along the lines of an unexpected chill pass through him; and within a single second, he was looking away again, whilst holding his upper arms for comfort. Carmen didn't really know how to respond to that, so instead of trying, she simply began walking in the direction of the ramen stand.

She sighed; prolonging the moan of desperation for longer than was probably necessary.

Before they had left, her father had stopped her to give a short lecture about how the future of Sunagakure (apparently) rested on this marriage's success.

At first, she had treated it just like all his other pep-talks - with little care. But now that she actually thought about it, and remembered the mystifying intensity in his usually cruel gaze, she was doubting her own opinion.

 _What if it was actually true? What if this ran deeper than Carmen had thought?_

Countless thoughts swirled through her head, almost like the constant sand storms that ate away at their proud village. Each grain held a story, held a conflict and a possible solution, but there would never be enough time to go over each one, so the vast majority were discarded. Carmen selected a mere handful of thoughts, and in her head she imagined her hand reaching into the soft dunes, and emerging filled with sand.

These were then tucked into her pocket, or in actual terms, a deep recess of her mind, to be closely examined later. Now that they would soon be approaching their desired location, Carmen couldn't really launch into a full out consideration session. That would have to wait until later.

"So...have you lived here all your life?"

Carmen asked this, not really expecting an answer. It was simply a phrase to fill the suffocating silence that surrounded them, yet Gaara, surprisingly, decided that he could speak this time.

"Yes," he mumbled. "I was born here."

His voice was scratchy now, like he needed to clear his throat, but it was still just as much of a relief to hear it as it was the day before. Carmen even found herself leaning closer to him as they walked side by side; so as to not miss a single word.

After realizing that she had left things in silence again, she replied with, "So was I," before picking up her pace at the sight of the ramen stand. Perhaps now, over food, Gaara would open up more than he had previously.

...As they arrived and sat on the cushioned stools provided, the pair was immediately met by an older woman who seemed to have a slight hitch in her step. Her hair was bright yellow, and as she spoke, she reminded Carmen instantly of a fox. Even her slanted eyes hinted at this animalistic behavior.

"What can I get for you today?" she purred; her fingers twitching slightly as they held a notepad to record their orders on.

"We'd just like some original ramen. Extra pork for my…" she paused for only a moment, "boyfriend here." As an added touch, Carmen smiled at the woman, but any happy feelings it may have tried to reflect were undoubtedly forced. This woman gave her a terrible vibe.

"Of course."

Her voice dragged on in a hiss like fashion as she waddled back into the kitchen area of the little stand, and Carmen found herself scooting closer to Gaara almost instinctively.

"Does she seem a little _off_ to you?" Carmen murmured through her clenched teeth; glancing at Gaara, though only out of the corner of her eye. At once, she saw him nod, a grim look on his face, and instead of worrying any further, she then busied herself with the act of making herself as close to him as possible.

Perhaps he was still a murderer, but even he, the demon prisoner or not, was better than the strange fox woman. That, she could vouch for any day.

...After what only seemed like moments, the woman again emerged with two steaming bowls of pasta, and instantly, once Carmen had seen the sick expression on her face, her appetite dropped a hundred fold. Even her stomach, which was now growling loudly, was shoved roughly to the side by her gut instinct.

 _To clarify, this instinct told her that she needed to get the heck out of there._

Though she never enjoyed them, Carmen was used to these situations. Many a times in the past, something like this had occurred, and whether it be a test from her father, or a real life example of why she had been taught in the first place, she had always been able to evade the situation by doing one, simple thing.

Faking an injury.

This was effective for many reasons. One, in the best case scenario, the suspicious person would offer to call the hospital themselves. Two, in a not so pleasant turn of events, the person would try to take advantage of your supposed weakness, but instead, you would catch _them_ off guard. Or three, which was Carmen's favorite, you got to speed off into the distance, with a proper excuse, before they could even say a word. And that, as Carmen could tell you for hours, was _fun_.

She planned to try it now.

...With a grand, almighty, and completely purposeful spasm, Carmen found herself on a course for the ground; her legs still crossed somewhere within the chair...

 _And it went as perfectly as planned._

The soft sting of her face, among other body parts, making contact with the rough, earthy floor was painful, no doubt, but Carmen welcomed it with open arms as smiled triumphantly into the dirt. _That_ , had gotten her attention.

"My word, child! Are you alright?" The woman came racing out of the kitchen faster than she had anticipated, but it didn't seem to matter as Carmen fake struggled in the attempt to get to her feet. Perhaps her legs were actually a bit stuck, but it wasn't anywhere as bad as she was making it seem.

She let her voice take on a whimpering sort of tone as she spoke with, "I think I might've broken something…"

By now, Gaara had stood as well, and as Carmen looked up at him, though only for a moment, she was immediately hit with the horrified look in his eyes. Each separate pupil was as tiny as she had ever seen them, and his hand shook slightly as he tried to force himself to move.

Carmen smiled reassuringly at him before she turned her attention back to the woman.

"Yes, I'm afraid to say it, but I think your chair here might've been the cause..." She stopped here, for dramatic effect. "I'm not really a fan of going to court, but I'd rather we have an actual judge analyze the situation…"

Just as Carmen predicted, the woman paled as she held up her hands. A form of surrender.

"Surely, we don't need to go that far…?" Her voice shook now, and the fox-like qualities increased at once, as if she was now retreated with her tail between her legs, and her ears folded back. Carmen smiled at her.

"Perhaps you're right. But if I'm going to keep this silent…"

"I'll give you money! Whatever you want!" cut in the woman.

Carmen smirked into the ground that was still painfully close to her face. "How about you eat this poisoned dinner, and we'll call it even?"

...The silence now was even more sickening than it had been with Gaara. Each heartbeat coming from the woman could be heard with disturbing volume; and the threat of it bursting rushed through her mind constantly as all of the color drained from the woman's face.

With one, deafening shake of her head, tears began streaming down her face as she bit out the words, "I'm sorry," into the darkening sky.

All along, she had known who Carmen was. They all did, and yet Carmen had been foolish enough to think that this trip would be different. Stupid idea, that was.

Again, she sighed, this time raising herself from the ground with little to no difficulty as she draped an arm over Gaara's shoulders. She definitely hadn't broken anything, like she claimed, but perhaps...her ankle may have been strained, if only slightly.

"If you want to live in the time that I rule this kingdom, I suggest you find other ways of making money," Carmen offered to the woman. "This kind of behavior will not be permitted in the new world I plan to create. Remember that."

Gaara seemed to take the initiative.

He began walking; supporting Carmen with arms that shook slightly.

"Oh, and one more thing," she added.

"Never let me see your face again."

 **(AN: A surprisingly disturbing chapter? I don't really know where this came from, so if it seems a little "eeehhhhhh", now you know why).**


	8. Chapter 7 - Royal Outfit Preparation Day

"I don't really like this one."

The woman paled slightly. "But Princess, it looks lovely on you."

Carmen let out a sigh. "No, I really don't like how tight it is around my waist. Bring the next one."

It was currently half past eight, as good of a time as any to be trying on wedding dresses. Today had been selected as the royal outfit preparation day - or at least, that's what her father called it - and so far, Carmen and her small, rather impatient team of servants had gone through so many dress options that she had lost count. It wasn't _her_ fault that she wished to find something that actually spoke to her, but the angry looking maids surrounding her seemed to think so.

Begrudgingly, the woman disappeared around the corner to fetch the next one.

Over the past few hours, Carmen had slipped her slim body into a vast assortment of dresses; all varying from each other in some slight, and often annoying way. One of the first group had been made of the softest, most beautiful silk, but it was too loose around her torso, and hung down like it was scared to touch her skin. Another had been skin tight, like she had just taken an ocean dip while wearing it, and yet another had been covered in what was perhaps a million silver rhinestones, that Carmen was sure would fall off long before the wedding. Needless to say, she hadn't found even a single one that was to her liking. All of them had some type of fault, all in their own unique way, and each in turn seemed to pleasure themselves with her misery.

To clarify, no, she wasn't having the most fun time either.

Just like her servants, Carmen was irritated with the whole ordeal. She had better things to do than sit in a room that smelled like old women, and the fact that Gaara was off on his own, doing who _knows_ what, did not help.

It had been her father's grand idea to separate them while this went on, saying that it would be simply improper for them to see each other in their special clothes before the day of the wedding. These things were supposed to be kept a surprise, he told them. And he fully intended to stick to that idea.

At this time, Carmen hadn't even caught a glimpse of her soon to be husband in what was perhaps an entire 12 hours, and she was growing increasingly worried about him launching into some sort of rampage if she wasn't around to be his voice of reason. Anything could go wrong. Someone could accidentally run into him, or tease him without knowing that he was ignorant of many of the kingdom's customs. Someone could even look at him wrong, and he might snap. She didn't know. All Carmen was aware of, was that she needed to be reunited with him as soon as possible. At least then, with her comforting and swift to act hands, she could breathe easy.

Carmen and Gaara had known each other for a good number of days now, and it was safe to say that she had picked up on a few things. _Things_ , like the fact that he seemed to obediently complete any task she asked of him. As for why, she didn't have the slightest clue, but it didn't change the fact that it was true. Once, when he had been reluctant to use the royal showers, she had been able to convince him with only a single sentence; when even the highest ranking castle guard had been unable to. Of course, at the time, she hadn't realized that he was only hesitating because he didn't know how to operate the water, but that was a story for another time.

Whatever the case was, being able to command someone, with the assurance that they would always listen, was a wonderful thing. It may have even been the only reason her father still loved his job, despite all the idiots he had to deal with. Carmen was sure she would have enjoyed being queen, even if just for that simple aspect.

Too bad she was never going to.

"I think you'll like this one, Princess," the maid she had sent forth interrupted her thoughts; drawling on with her strange twang of a voice, and severing the thick line of impatient tension that had been in the air around the other maids in the room. Each brightened considerably when they saw the new dress, probably certain that this one was sure to please the princess that stood before them. After all, it had been hours already. Even the princess would tire of the activity eventually.

"We'll see," she said simply, allowing each maid to complete their own separate duty. The one who had brought the dress aided her in stepping into it, while another balanced her, and still another stood close by with a basket full of tailor-like tools that could be found in any normal seamstress's shop, should they need them.

Once they had pulled the material up to her neck, they began to adjust an assortment of zippers, buttons, and strings, pinching Carmen's skin here and there, yet never quite earning a whelp from the stubborn girl. Each worked with a serious force, and of course, as they had before, completely situated it before Carmen could even realize what she was doing, and that she should have been seeing how it felt the entire time.

Now, just as she had done what felt like a hundred times, she twisted and turned; stretching like she had a strange itch that she could not bear, but also could not reach. This dress didn't _feel_ too off, as some of the others had, but the previous disappoints stopped her from going too far with the thought that this nightmare would soon be over. If she didn't like how it looked, it would be back to square one again.

Since her measurements hadn't technically been recorded for the making of the dresses themselves, some of them hadn't even passed the first stage. With her overall average body type, it had been assumed that all of them would fit, if made to accommodate those conditions. Yet, some had literally not even passed her hips; as if only made with the purpose of delaying her longer. With those dresses, it wasn't that they felt slightly too tight, or too loose, but were more of a, 'this dress wouldn't even fit a five year old' type of evaluation that were over in seconds, yet took ages to wiggle out of. This time consumer was the main problem with this event, and Carmen hadn't discovered a single way to counteract it.

At least now, with the dress she currently wore, she could rest easy with the fact that it fit, at the very least. There wasn't any resistance when she moved, and it was sleeveless, which was an attribute Carmen rather enjoyed.

In fact, at this point, and as far as her aching head was concerned, she didn't really care what it looked like. She didn't need to waddle over to the mirror. She could simply rely on the fact that her hairstylists would be top notch quality for the wedding. They would be able to take the attention away from her dress, right?

...Yet even still, she forced herself to walk over to the door sized looking glass in the corner of the room; propped up only by a wedge of weak wood.

"Oh, you look splendid, Princess."

At first, Carmen rather doubted that comment. After all, these were simply servants, and right now, their main goal was to get the heck out of this death trap. They didn't really concern themselves with the actuality of things, for all they were required to do was their jobs. Servants didn't care. They wouldn't make a statement like that of their own will. They only wanted her to think that it was nice.

But even still, Carmen looked up. And to be blunt; she was pleased.

Like the first dress she had tried on, it was made of white silk, and it flowed down the curves of her body like a small-scale river. The chest was fashioned eloquently, but yet painfully simply, as it only crisscrossed the joining clumps of silk from the lower half of the dress, but it looked absolutely stunning; especially to the girl who was a sight for sore eyes after these past grueling hours. There was no real start or end to it, as it seemed to go on forever in an untainted stream of white, and it hid any stomach flab she may or may not have gained after a few too many ice cream sundaes shared with Gaara perfectly.

Truly, it was a dress fit for a princess. And considering the fact that she was one, and it technically belonged to her already, Carmen had no problem ordering the servants to promptly take it from storage.

After hours of searching, she had found her dress.

Now, to find Gaara.


	9. Chapter 8 - Start of Something Horrid

"No Darling, hold his _other_ arm."

Once more, Carmen winced as Gaara stepped on her toes.

"Princess! I told you! It's right, _then_ left!"

This wasn't working.

"No, no, no! You're doing it wrong!"

"Sir Gaara! Move closer to her! She won't bite!"

" _Princess_!"

Currently, Carmen was practicing for the wedding. She and Gaara had been in the ballroom since breakfast, and they hadn't made any significant improvement.

Or improvement of any sort for that matter.

"Are you even listening to the music?!"

Of course, it made _sense_ that the servants were in a rush for them to get this number down, as the ceremony was now only two days off, but it didn't make it any less annoying. Carmen had never been a fan of dancing, even with her sister. It was just one if those things that a child dreaded in their youth, and then got lumped with, still, in the future.

"Ow!"

And no, it didn't really help that Gaara had two left feet.

"My apologies," he whispered, so only she could hear him.

"It's okay," she replied.

Notably, what had remained of the royal outfit preparation day had passed without another hitch.

Moments after Carmen found a dress that was to her liking, there had been a soft knock at the door, which had revealed Gaara, to her relief and surprise. They spoke simple greetings, as was polite, and then dismissed the servants. The two liked to be alone.

Together, they wandered about the castle; not really speaking, as was customary with him lately. It was a silent journey, but not an awkward one, and before long, they had come upon their two adjacent rooms. Gaara bid her goodnight with a simple bob of his head, and she watched him disappear into his dimly lit quarters with a sharp pang of melancholy. _That_ was the man she was going to marry. And in only three days, no less.

Carmen had sighed then; letting out all of her angst as she slipped into her own room as well. She threw on the first nightgown she found, and laid down for a well deserved rest after her long day of intense clothes sessions.

The night as well, passed without any major problems.

Carmen awoke to the smell of burnt breakfast, and the bustling sound of frantic servants dashing about in the attempt to fix the problem they had come upon. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with wobbly hands; a sign that she still wasn't quite awake. Her feet swung themselves over the side of the bed, and into the slippers that had been strategically placed there for just that purpose. Carmen stood; yawning.

Of course, she knew that the commotion meant that the food would be served much later than usual, but the young princess didn't really mind. She was too apprehensive to eat very much, anyway, and even if she had wanted to, she was still a light eater. There wasn't much she could do about that.

And, in any case, this gave her time to visit with Gaara before the long awaited day began, in which she would leave even more exhausted than she had been yesterday. _This_ , was the dress rehearsal for their wedding. Even her father was planning on attending. It was kind of a big deal.

Once more, just as she had done before her sleep, Carmen sighed; dragging out the sound as she so often did, mostly in the attempt to get someone to notice her distress. It was boring when no one listened to her, but more often than anything, uncaring glances were all she got. No one here really cared. They just had to do their jobs, and get paid. Just like the maids who had helped her get dressed the day before. They didn't care. And they never would.

It was sad really, that she was forced to live in these conditions. The last person who had really cared about her, other than her sister, was her mother. And it had been years since she died...

...But, well, for now, Carmen had to put that beside her. She had a fiancé to meet.

Carmen made a dash for Gaara's chambers immediately after she made sure she looked decent, and together they sought out the servants to get them ready. Now, after at least an hour of grooming, they were here, at the ballroom.

Carmen now wore a dress made of green silk, which was slightly too poofy at the shoulders, and silver heels, constantly causing her to trip. A smirk adjourned her father's face as she continued to mess up, and Gaara, who was dancing across from her, simply looked terrified.

A rose was placed precautiously in her hair, and was threatening to tumble uselessly to the floor with every step she took.

It reminded her of herself.

"One more time! You can do it!"

The half-hearted pep talks the dance instructor constantly shouted were doing nothing for her, at the moment. All Carmen could think of was the wedding itself. She didn't care about dancing. She didn't care about dresses, or any of this. All she wanted, was to outsmart her father. And if this torture continued, she might just have to kill herself before that dream could ever be realized.

"No, Honey, you made the same mistake last time!"

To her surprise, Gaara was holding up pretty well, despite the scared look on his face. The amount of mistakes he made was beginning to diminish, as if he was finally understanding the concept of the dance. Carmen however, after not being taught how to dance properly even once, as she had stubbornly refused, was still at a loss. Honestly, it led her wonder if Gaara had actually been trained as a child. Sure, he had stepped on her toes a number of times, so much that they would probably be bruised by morning, but now that he had sunken into the mood, there was no stopping him. He twirled her around with a strange sureness; calming her nerves in an instant. Truly, he was getting better at this noble thing.

Because of all of these things, Carmen was impressed, for what she wanted to say was the first time, with her choice of husband. The initial decision had been on nothing but a whim, and she had regretted it in the back of her mind ever since, but now, she was finally being relieved of those stresses. Gaara was actually trying here, which was the aspect that set them apart. Where Carmen had given up, he had stayed strong. And even if he ended up hating her, and this relationship was doomed from the start, she would be eternally grateful.

...Abruptly stopping to take a breather, she asked, "May I request a five minute recess?"

The pure exhaustion in her voice surprised even herself. The way she usually spoke, with foolish confidence, was missing. Instead, it was replaced with a wavering scratchiness that desperately needed water.

To her surprise and relief, the instructor nodded, tapping her foot impatiently. "We're on a tight schedule, but let's make it 10. You need it."

The head maid seemed to agree as well. "I'll bring refreshments," she added, trying to sound helpful. Carmen could care less at the moment. Her gaze met her father's as he raised himself up from his chair; bored, most likely.

Without waiting for Gaara, yet half expecting him to follow, Carmen began walking briskly out of the ballroom, glad to breathe different air after hours of that stuffy prison. The stench of sweat was so strong that she has almost - emphasis on almost - fainted once. Now, with this aroma of freshly made bread and hairspray, she could rest easy.

Or at least, more easily than she had back in there.

For a few more seconds, or perhaps minutes, Carmen continued walking forward. She continued, pausing for no one, waiting for Gaara to make an appearance. Waiting for Katherine to hug her from behind; for something comforting to awake her from this nightmare. Yes, she was impressed with Gaara, and yes, she did think of him as a great friend, but that wasn't nearly enough incentive to get married. She needed time to think about these things, yet her father had rushed her into this without caring about her opinion.

Her mother, just as her, had been forced into a marriage, though it was undeniably more arranged than Carmen's had been. Or... _would_ be.

Carmen's mother had been shipped halfway across the world to be wed to her father; engaged to him since her birth. She had never spoken to him, never seen him, before the day of their wedding, and yet, she had been forced to give birth to two children. She had been forced into death.

It was an important merger, no doubt, for the two kingdoms, but the thought of all the benefits did nothing to quell Carmen's anger on the subject. She, herself, cared not about her own fate, but the sheer injustice of what had happened to her beloved mother snapped her heart in two. How could anyone be so cruel? Why didn't her father realize that her mother had fallen ill? Why didn't he care?

Perhaps there was nothing he could have done, but it still infuriated her whenever she thought about it. Her mother was the only true parent figure that she had ever truly had; truly loved, and yet, she had been taken away from her. Her father, Alexander, great as he was, had taken Carmen's mother from her. It was all his fault.

And _that_ , putting aside how annoying he was in the present, was why Carmen hated him.

Under her breath, she cursed, scowling. "Alexander," she spoke his name, instead of his title as her father, with hate. "King, Alexander, of Suna," she hissed. "I hope you descend to the fiery depths of he-"

Her voice, as it so often was, was promptly cut off.

" _Woah. Watch what you're saying there, Missy._ "

Instantly, and just as suddenly as the voice had appeared, she felt tight, unforgiving hands find their way to her arms; unkempt nails digging into her skin.

Carmen froze, angry thoughts of her father and mother forgotten, not allowing herself to turn around to look at the man who had spoken. Her pulse quickened, but she showed no visible signs of fear. She was used to situations like these. But it didn't mean that she liked them.

"Wouldn't want the King to hear you, now would we?"

A thick, coarse rope was then acquainted with her wrists; tying them together, and therefore stopping any immediate judo flip she may or may not have been planning.

"You're gonna come with me now, alright Sweetie?"

 _Yeah...no._

"My boss requested to see you," he continued. His voice was nothing more than a hiss, befitting an animal. Briefly, Carmen wondered if he was in league with the fox lady. "And I'd love it if you'd follow me willingly."

"If I may-" her voice was cut off with the sudden appearance of a gag; soaked in some strange substance. Desperately, she tried not to taste or inhale it, as it could potentially be dangerous, but after a good while of nothing happening, she assumed it was _decently_ safe. Still, she held her breath as often as possible.

"My apologies, but I can't have you talking. It might alert someone...unnecessary."

Carmen longed to kick him, but the situation didn't exactly recommend it.

"Shall we?"

All the words she longed to speak died in her throat as the man urged her forward, something feeling eerily like a silver knife pressing against her back. With the newfound silence, thoughts raced through her mind, all wondering the same thing.

 _One, how had he got in?_

 _Two, were there more like him?_

 _And three, where the actually heck were her guards?_

Before long, they came to a stop, just outside the throne room. This, was probably where her father had retreated to at the start of the break, and this, unless this one man was planning on dragging two people along with him, was where his boss was. The thought made her shudder.

No, she was not a fan of her father, but seeing him dead was most definitely _not_ what she wanted.

 _A brief prayer was uttered for his safety, as the man forced her to open the heavy, stone door._

...With a single, quick glance inside, Carmen was pleased to find her father inside; alive. However, the fact that he was bloody, and in chains did nothing to assure her of his safety in the coming future.

Only one thought ran through her mind now. _How had this happened in only 10 minutes?_

Carmen then looked up, slowly, trying to prolong the mindset of not knowing the face of the man, or woman, who had done this to her father. Who had planned this intricate attack that was getting more real, and more dangerous, every second.

For a few moments, she was even able to relish the look of pain on her father's face. She had always wanted to rough him up a bit. Maybe partnering with this organization was within her best interest...

Then, without another second of pointless stalling, Carmen lifted her eyes to meet the gaze of the frightening presence who continued to make her shudder, even now.

To start, Carmen could tell you that he, was in fact, a man.

" _Princess_ ," the monster like man drawled, smiling sinisterly. All thoughts of joining him vanished instantaneously. "How nice to finally make your acquaintance."

...A breath was caught desperately in her throat as she gazed upon him; as she gazed upon the pure embodiment of all of her fears. He was so... _terrifying_. So indescribably terrifying. So much, that even Carmen, who could usually conceal any nervousness, began shaking in raw fear. His sneer was real, long, and harsh, stretching across his face like that of a circus clown, and a scar traced his left jawline. His teeth, as he smirked, weren't crooked, but instead, _pointed_ , as if they had been sharpened, and his muscles bulged out, through his thin, black shirt.

His eyes though, were what scared her the most.

There was a lack of life, in those depths. A lack of everything that was necessary to be human. There was even a lack of death.

The emptiness which she saw in those colorless - yet somehow blacker than the absolute cover of night - eyes horrified Carmen, causing her to whimper, as was extremely uncharacteristic to her. There was sick triumph in those eyes; murder; laughter; slaughter; so much of everything terrible in the world that she longed to vomit.

A thick, bead of sweat trailed down her temple as she forced herself to look away, back to her father. Now, his eyes were closed.

 _No_ , a voice in her soul spoke; so small and insignificant compared to this man. She did not even know his name, but even just his image held a place in her heart; a trophy of unconditional terror.

 _No, stop this!_

She could not speak herself, because of the gag, but she longed for someone to step up and save her with all of her heart. She wasn't strong enough for this. She couldn't handle this.

One final thought echoed in her mind as the man spoke again; his face twisted into horrible amusement.

"Alright boys, if she won't speak, just throw her in the dungeons."

 _Someone save me._


	10. Chapter 9 - A Needed Reunion

Carmen awoke; battered and sore. Her dress was torn, her feet were bare - her hair was surely a rat's nest, though she could not see it - and something that felt quite like blood tickled her temple. It dripped down, slipping across her face like a little waterfall; moving to a slow, sweet rhythm up until the very moment it reached her jaw, at which point, it would come crashing down to the floor. No sound was made, as it connected with said ground, but she knew that that was where it ended up. As she shifted, she could feel the wet liquid, still slightly warm, underneath her feet; almost taunting her.

Carmen wasn't sure how much blood she had lost, at this point, for she could have been asleep for days for all she knew, but, there _was_ one thing that reigned clear.

She had seen better days.

Carmen couldn't even remember when she had fallen asleep, much less, recall ever living prior to this moment. Yes, she knew her name, and no, she wasn't suffering from amnesia or anything, but there was a sort of... _blockage_ , in her brain, where these memories should have been. She could bring forth nothing from her usually dependable mind, and even now, as her range of vision widened, and she found herself in the dungeons, she could think of no explanation.

Who was she, really? And why was she here?

Carmen knew nothing of her past, and it led her to wonder if she was in fact a criminal. Perhaps it made sense, considering what was surely her own blood seeping down across her face. This had to mean that she had acted out, and got a beating, right?

After all, she could not remember anything other than the stone walls she now faced. They seemed like _home_ to her, as sick as a home in prison was, and it brought her a sense of comfort. There was a faint aroma of something in here, something that calmed her; something strangely masculine, and unique. It almost smelled like a man she felt she once knew, but again, she could not recall anything about it.

 _Perhaps she was in deeper trouble than she had first thought._

Carmen sat, waiting and thinking, for many minutes - perhaps hours - in that concrete cell. She wanted to know who she was, and even realizing that took what felt like forever.

No, she soon realized. She wasn't some wanted criminal. She was a princess, and she lived in Suna, and she was about to get married, and that man, who she had thought of, was Gaara.

...And…

Gaara.

His name brought a sigh to her lips, despite all she could still not remember. For some reason, even just the thought of him, no presence required, brought a calm to rest over her mind. Everything was going to be alright. He was here, in this castle, and he would come get her out. He would save her. There was nothing to worry about.

For a few more moments, Carmen struggled to completely convince herself of this fact which was sure to be true. Gaara was coming. She believed that; she _knew_ that. And Carmen even deluded herself so far, that she began to think that her life was perfect, because she had him around. There was no more need to worry, no more cause for panic over this stupid marriage deal. She had a husband now, and her wedding was to take place in what was only a day or so. Everything was perfect. Everything was-

 _So,_ so _not perfect._

With a terrifying start, she remembered what had happened. She remembered that man, that horrible man, and with him, the memories came flooding back.

Her father, in a damaged state, in chains; Gaara, nowhere to be found; the scared expressions of the servants, some of which who were collapsed on the floor; and most of all, the unforgettable presence of that man; the one who had done all of this.

 _How had she forgotten in the first place?_

Perhaps it was that very fact, that he was terrifying, and that he had disrupted her sense of balance, that had thrown her mind off. Perhaps it was her own body, trying to dispel any remembrance of him, so as to control the feelings that were overflowing, and overpowering her entire system. And perhaps, it was the fear of him, the raw fear of everything he stood for, even though she knew not of any of it, that drove her mind to act this way. He had her chained, and he was surely laughing, now that the terror had been renewed. This was his doing. It was some...some foreign technique.

Maybe the man was a ninja. Carmen had heard about them - ninjas - but she had never actually met one, whilst she was constantly being sheltered in the castle. It wasn't like they were scarce in Suna or anything. More, that she had just been in the wrong places at the wrong times. And now, her lack of knowledge might just be her undoing, despite how wrong that felt.

She was supposed to know everything; supposed to have her brain as her greatest weapon. But that...that just wasn't happening. She knew nothing of this strange force, and she could hardly think of a plan, even a defensive one, in her state.

 _Her entire being was in tatters, and that man, nameless to her as he was, was the cause._

Carmen stood, rising up from the floor with some difficulty, and found there was a slight hitch in her step as she attempted to walk. It hurt to even stand, physically and mentally, but she decided to suffer through it as she hobbled over to the bars of the cell; the only exit.

Unfortunately for her, she couldn't exactly break steel bars with her bare hands.

She needed help. And she didn't know where to find it.

"Gaara?" she called out helplessly, hoping that he would be looking for her.

"G-Gaara?" this time, her voice was slightly quieter, as realized what she was doing was foolish. He wouldn't come for her. He had probably taken this chance, with all the confusion, to sneak out of the castle. He was probably halfway across Suna by now, fleeing, and laughing at the girl he knew to be surely dead by now.

After all, who was to say what he would do? Truly, Carmen knew nothing about him. He could have even called these men over, for all she was aware of. He could have instigated this attack on the castle, and now, she would never actually know the truth, as she'd be dead long before she got the chance to find it.

This, was her fate now. A prison cell.

She had saved Gaara from one, and the balance had been disrupted. So, to compensate, the universe had stuck her in here. It made sense, when she really thought about it. She had changed something that wasn't meant to be changed. He had been ordered to do his time for the crimes he had committed, and Carmen had thrown all of that away. She hadn't cared. And now, she was paying for it.

One last time, she cried out, "Gaara!" deluding herself with one last streak of hope that he would come back for her. That he would realize how much they needed each other, or rather, how much she needed him, and they would reunite.

But even she knew that was foolish. He had no reason to return, now that he was free. He didn't care about her. He never had. It was just her own mind, rocketing off into space, thinking that they had something they didn't. He didn't care. He was just like everyone else in her life.

Her head fell into her hands.

 _He didn't..._

" _Carmen!_ "

A voice, frantic, and higher than it usually was, broke into her thoughts. Immediately, her head snapped up, grasping desperately to the last hold she still had on that one hope, and she craned her neck to see through the bars.

That couldn't possibly be Gaara, right? It was just her imagination again-

"Thank God!" he murmured, clutching at her hands, which she had outstretched from within the gaps in the bars. His hand felt cold, but so, so real in hers, that it almost sprung tears into her eyes. Almost.

"I thought I had lost you."

There was such conviction, such sadness in his words, that Carmen almost had to reaffirm that he was actually there yet again. After all, this couldn't possibly be happening. There was no way _anyone_ cared about her enough to speak like that, least of all Gaara, who she had dragged into her life against her will.

Yet, here he was, grasping her hand so tightly he might break it, as if afraid that if he let go, there would be no saving her. It felt nice, amazing, actually, but now wasn't the time for that.

"Gaara," she whispered. "Can you get me out of here?"

He looked down at her, and for the first time in what felt like ages, their eyes met. Still, his were wild and wide from this close, but now, there was also a strange tenderness to them that hadn't been there before. It confused her, no doubt, but Carmen found that it sent a sense of protection and happiness to combat all of her fears. And that, was something she needed right now.

"Of course," he answered, reluctant to let go of her hand. "Stand back a little."

She did as she was told, somewhat afraid of what he might do. He wasn't a barbarian, as she could now see, but something told her to still be ready for the chance that he might open up the cell and kill her. She deserved it, of course, but it didn't make it any less terrifying.

Then, all of a sudden, Carmen noticed something creeping up the side of the bars, up to where the hinges were. She almost screamed, as she wasn't a fan of bugs, but something stopped her. Those weren't bugs. That was...sand?

A pillar of white grains, looking just like the infamous sand of the Suna deserts, inched its way up the cell wall, scaring her, as well as intriguing her. She had heard that Gaara had been able to do this briefly from the Warden, but never had she imagined he could actually…

Was this...ninjutsu? Was Gaara a ninja?

There were so many questions she longed to ask, but once more, she realized now wasn't the time, as the door of bars made a creaking sound. Bolts, which had previously been completely secure, fell from the openings in the concrete, resulting in an eventual collapse of the entire door.

Honestly, it left Carmen speechless. This was amazing. This power; the ability to control sand. If she had something like that, she wouldn't have to worry about anything. She could just throw some sand into that man's awful eyes, stab him with a poisoned knife, and the rest would be history! This was perfect!

"Gaara," she began; excited. "You _have_ to teach me how to-"

Her words were again cut off as a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her. _Gaara?_ she wondered silently. But in truth, she knew it was him. She had learned over these past few days, or however long she had known him, that he was a fan of hugs; of contact. He wasn't used to it, no doubt, but he enjoyed it. He was like a little puppy, longing for a friend. And now that he had found one, Carmen was pretty sure he didn't plan on letting it - her - go.

"Gaara?" she whispered, this time out loud. "Gaara, it's okay, I'm right here, but we have to g-Eep!" She squeaked as he only squeezed her tighter. "Gaara, you're hurting me," she told him; wiggling in the process.

He seemed to be busy. Nuzzling his face into her neck, anyway.

"You're alive," he said suddenly; painfully; overjoyed. So many emotions were in those two words, and with them, Carmen decided to let him enjoy this moment, even for only just a bit longer. She would be lying if she said she wasn't enjoying it as well, but it also wasn't a lie that they had more important places to be.

 _Okay, just 30 more seconds…_

"I don't know what I would have done if you would have…" he trailed off, hugging her closer. "No one has ever showed me the kind of kindness you have given me. I didn't realize how much I truly needed you until you were gone, and for that I apologize, but... _Carmen…_ "

He said her name like it was a sweet drug, and honestly, Carmen wasn't sure if she had ever been more content; more... _happy_. This was the kind of contact she was missing in her life. This was what she had wanted all this time.

"Carmen?"

"Mhmm?" she was sure 30 seconds had gone by already, but still, she was lost in this moment.

"Say my name."

Confused, she spoke, "Gaara."

He shivered. "Again?"

"Gaara."

"One more time?"

" _Gaara_."

Carmen wasn't sure if she had ever heard him sigh before, but at that moment, he surely did. He was happier than she had ever seen him, and for that, she was grateful. She had thought he would never come, but this was more than she had ever hoped for.

This feeling of security was bliss.

And even though the man who still to this moment horrified her, was still somewhere in the castle, she felt as if she was ready to meet him.

Because now, she had Gaara by her side.


	11. Chapter 10 - A Secret Foolishly Kept

(AN: Super long chapter, omg. Sorry It's kinda hysterical).

"Gaara!" she hissed. "Stop making so much noise!"

Looking sheepish, while somehow still serious in light of the situation, he nodded solemnly; calming and slowing his previously thunderous footfalls. Together, they rounded a corner.

"Can you take out that guard?"

Her eyes flashed.

This was the _beginning_ of Carmen's escape plan: find her father, find her sister, regroup outside the castle, and get the heck out of there. No doubt, it was primitive, but in her defense, she had only spent little more than 30 seconds devising it. And unless another, better plan arose from the pile of burnt ashes that was her security level, this was all they had.

"Easily," Gaara responded; not even lifting a single finger as a trail of sand made it's way towards the stationed man, tightening around his windpipe before he even realized they were there. Briefly, Carmen wondered if the man had been killed, as his body fell limp to the floor, but her thoughts were soon cut short as Gaara took hold of her arm, and led her towards another hallway.

...With him guiding her through like this, it was almost like _he_ was the one who had lived in the central castle for all his life. Carmen, once more, found this thought ponderable, but was again, abruptly forced to change the direction of her mind.

"Gaara, watch out!"

There was little more she could do, other than call out cryptic warnings and occasional commands. On this mission, he was in charge. She didn't like it, but she would have to deal with it if she ever wanted to get out of the castle with her life.

He dealt with the second man they had come across with the same fluid solidness that he had dealt with the first one, and as he too fell to the floor, despite the situation, Carmen smiled.

" _Wow."_

It was true that she was still infatuated with his ability to control the sand around him, but since her first encounter with it, the desire for it had mellowed slightly. Gaara had explained - though only with short, choppy, and somewhat confusing words, fitting his silent style - that this talent was a gift he was born with, and that it was impossible for her to ever command the sand like he did. And she had accepted that, immediately upon hearing it, because after all, as he also mentioned, there were other types of jutsu she could have at her disposal.

Even the _thought_ of becoming a ninja excited her.

It she escaped from this ambush alive, that was her new life goal. With this, she no longer cared about her lack of luck, and the unfairness that came with being born after her sister. She didn't care that her chances of becoming queen were quite possibly in the negatives. If she could become a ninja, she would be happier than she ever would be sitting on that jewel encrusted throne. There was simply no need for anything else in her life. And if she could get Gaara to teach her, powerful master of sand as he was... _even_ better.

Another flick of his wrist had her staring at the sand that shot out of his hand; probably hidden from her eyes underneath his clothes. It shot out like a whip, snapping against the back of yet another thug sent to keep watch. He too, crumbled to the ground, and even Carmen, though nothing short of a completely ignorant child, knew that he wouldn't be getting up from that one. Gaara had surely cracked his spine, and with that kind of injury, the option of living was pretty nonexistent.

"This way," Gaara murmured; looking none too guilty for killing yet another man. His face was blank, as it usually was, and he led her down another hall without faltering even once.

His title of Demon Prisoner flashed through her mind then, and she almost fled at the thought of it. Surely, he was used to killing men like this; like it was nothing. He didn't mind the fact that he was stealing something from them that should never be stolen. He didn't care. Gaara, after all, was a killer. It was a simple fact. And though Carmen had become rather comfortable with him lately, her mind ran wild with the possibilities.

How easy it would be for him to snap _her_ neck. How easy it would be for him to turn on her; to decide that the marriage adventure had begun to bore him; to say that the happy feelings for her he had spoken of had been nothing but a lie. Truly, since she was only standing a few feet away from him, he wouldn't even have to use his sand. It wouldn't take much effort for him to reach over and simply squeeze; cutting off her air supply in only mere seconds. Carmen's death would be long, unsuspected, and undoubtedly painful; and her own husband would be the one to do it.

Trying to act aloof, even as she shivered at the thought of it, Carmen inched ever so slightly in the direction that would have her farther away from him; hoping he had not noticed her change of mood.

 _With one look at his face, it was plain to see that he had._

Though usually stoic, his features were scrunched up; confused more than anything else, but also angry, as if he was wondering how she had seen through his true colors, and then got worked up over the thought that his performance was lacking. With a slight growl, he closed the distance between them again; moving sideways to restore the previous balance. Still, he did not give up his front that he _wasn't_ trying to kill her.

Once more, she shifted her weight so her body was moved another few inches to the right - in the hall that was becoming less and less spacious - and likewise, Gaara followed suit. This course of action continued for another few minutes, with her trying to be discreet, but ultimately failing, as Gaara's eyes were trained on her like a hawk; probably only because he didn't want his prey to get even a _chance_ to run.

A sound befitting that which would come out of a common sheep escaped her lips as she moved one last time; her side now hugging the wall. There wasn't any space left for her, though Gaara still had about a foot before he was directly on top of her.

Glaring; he took a large step to the right.

Now, not only was she was squished against the wall, but the demon prisoner - quite literally - was close enough to bite her neck off; no hands for choking required. Her hands clenched into fists; the fear erupting throughout her body, though she had been comfortable with him being this close only minutes before.

Recalling that he had killed other in the past, many times, and still had no problem doing it now, reminded her who he really was. And regardless of how much of a sweetheart he seemed to be, she couldn't just ignore that.

 _It was just that...she had trusted him so much…_

Carmen's eyes squeezed shut; too afraid to look him in the eyes, for she knew what was coming. She could already feel the edges of his canines, ripping into the flesh of her neck; the sound of maniacal laughter echoing in her ears as she finally learned why he had been dubbed a demon.

The image was so vivid in her mind, that she began to legitimately _feel_ things; brushing against her shoulders and neck. She felt something that felt like a death grip; surrounding her; pulling her into a sick embrace; and suddenly she couldn't hold in the tears that she hadn't realized had been building up in her eyes.

She didn't want to die, but more than that, she didn't want to believe that Gaara would ever do something so inhumane. It was true - _so_ true - that she had trusted him with her life, but now that she was being put to the test, her faith in him had crumbled. A fleeting thought, running through her brain on a whim, had set her off balance, and now, it was hard to remember how glad to see her alive he had sounded when he found her.

She couldn't _remember_ , for the fear, just like with the man who had started all of this, had her paralyzed. Her hands shook, and her heart thumped so loudly and quickly that she was sure it would soon explode within moments. How she hated ever showing weaknesses, especially to a potential enemy, and yet here she was; trembling yet again, though this time, crying as well.

"G-Gaara…" she managed finally; after working up the courage. A snake-like trailing of a finger over her jaw had her stuttering.

"Please tell me you're not going to kill me. I...You are... You're not like that. You're better than that. I…"

With a start, she realized the death grip she had felt from before in her fantasies was actually Gaara's arms around her again.

"I'm _sorry_."

Her apology had her in even more tears than before, and she was even more ashamed with herself as he combatted all of her fears with a soft chuckle. She didn't know what to think, but as a soft pair of lips connected with her forehead, all of her thoughts were halted anyway.

"There's no need to be afraid," he spoke; reminding her of how gentle he really was. "I would never hurt you, despite what your beautiful mind is telling you."

He ran a few fingers through her tangled hair. "Come on, open your eyes."

Hesitantly, she did, and what met her vision almost had her running away in fear once more; though in a different way.

Gaara was smiling.

 _He didn't smile._

His face was always blank, and on the rare occasions that he did crack a grin, it was always only slight, and never as big as this one was; stretching across his entire face. His eyes were lit up now, and for some reason, it had Carmen calming down in the blink of an eye. She suddenly felt very foolish for her mind running so rampant.

"I admit," he spoke again, and this time the smile dimmed a bit. "I do kill with less respect than I should, but I do want you to know that I would never...never in a _million_ years would I kill the only woman who has ever made me smile this much. Please know that. And I understand if you'd like more distance from me because of my nature, but-"

She interrupted him by hugging him back; burying her face into his shoulder.

"Alright then," he said, chuckling again, and making sure to return the embrace tenfold; wrapping her in the most secure-feeling hug she had ever experienced - even more so than the one that had happened back in her cell. The trust she knew she had for him all along came rushing back, and though she was still a lot more terrified than she should've been, she was at least at a level where she knew he wouldn't raise his hand against her anymore.

"Thank you for not killing me," she said quietly.

"I really hoped you wouldn't."

This had him laughing again as he finally pulled away; making her wonder what was putting him in such a good mood so suddenly. The angry look from before hadn't been fake…

She decided she would put that aside, for now, at least.

Carmen looked into his eyes then; so relieved, beyond explanation that she could still call him a friend. She needed Gaara - without _him_ , she wouldn't even have been able to get out of her _cell_ \- and she intended to have him stay with her for a _long_ time.

"I would never dream of it," he told her.

Now, they had unwrapped their arms, and they stood some distance apart. The warmness she had just felt was suddenly missing, and wanting that security back again, she reached out to grasp his hand; deciding that even _that_ would be enough to make her satisfied. Perhaps, in truth, she wanted to just stand there and hug him all day, but with the current situation, that wasn't an option. Hand holding would have to do, she confirmed, but before she got the chance, she was thwarted.

Carmen was in the middle of the process of _asking_ him to hold her hand, when a voice; strangled, and sounding quite like a dying animal, interrupted her.

And after some thought, she realized it was her father.

"Father!?" she cried; sounding almost as pathetic as he did while she followed the sound of his constant groaning to another stone cell, exactly like the one she had been kept in, and exactly like all the others. He sat inside, propped up against the wall; breathing heavily.

"Daughter," he acknowledged; for some reason trying to be funny, even in his state, by defining their family roles. A strained smile was on his face, and his eyes sparkled, like she had never seen them before, at the sight of her face.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

"Father, this isn't the time to be messing around!"

For a moment, he looked hurt, but then he noticed her eyes, still filled with tears; each drop paving a road through the mountain of dirt that must be caking her face, and his own softened.

"I'll have you know that I'm completely serious." A cough interrupted his words, and for a moment, Carmen thought she saw blood come up with the gagging sound. "You're even more beautiful than your mother."

Then, for once, his own eyes dipped into something sad as well.

"And I should have told you that long ago."

Carmen was still standing in the doorway of his cell at this point; holding the bars with trembling fingers that continued to tighten more and more with every second that passed. None of this made sense. Her father was never nice to her. _Never_. He didn't smile at her, and apologize for never telling her that she was pretty. That wasn't how their relationship worked.

He was there to constantly outwit her; to prove that he deserved the title of king, and that she should always remember that. This wasn't him. And _this_ , was unethical.

Even more tears continued to burst through her defenses, and stream down her face. This encounter was never supposed to happen. Carmen was never supposed to see her proud father, pushed from his almighty position so far that he was in chains; bloody, and quite possibly on the verge of death. This wasn't in the plan. _He was..._

For once, she didn't care about weeping in front of her father.

"Why?!" her voice broke out through the tears; her vision now so clouded she couldn't see his expression.

"Why do you choose to do this to me _now_? I played all of your games already! I found a husband! I came to terms with the fact that I'll never be queen! What more do you _want_?" Her voice cracked, and she was only vaguely aware of a very pained-looking Gaara resting a hand on her shoulder. "Why do you take pleasure in confusing me this way? I don't understand! For years we kept up this mutual hatred for each other. You can't just spring this on me now!"

"Carmen, I-"

"No, you listen! All I ever wanted in life was to please you, but it wasn't because I wanted you to praise me. I didn't want anything fleeting like that! All I wanted was for you to continue to be a boundary for me, to let yourself never fall from your heavenly place, so as to act as the ultimate prize once I finally outsmarted you! You…" Again, she was at a loss for words. "You can't just back out on me now! You can't just get all touchy-feely on me after 18 years of this constant pushing for me to be better than I already was! You…"

This time, her voice quieted.

"You can't just step down from being my hero."

It was a confession she had held deep in her heart for her entire life - the fact that she secretly admired her father greatly - and as she spoke it, her voice quivered. As much as she didn't want to see him like this; beaten and broken, she didn't want him to see the vulnerable side of _her_. It was like they were back at square one again, and she would have to build up 18 years of work against him one more. And she didn't want that.

The point she had been at had been perfect, and now, this conversation had them rewinding time; back until a point where he was kind enough to tell her mother that he loved her. And she didn't want to see him like that.

If she did…

"My daughter...All of the riches on this entire earth cannot make up for how sorry I am."

 _She wouldn't be able to keep up the front of hating him._

More tears and cries burst from her throat then; and she was struck with the unfairness of it all. This wasn't fair!

"Then why?" she flung new words at him, cutting even her own thoughts off, as they couldn't help her now anyway. "Why put me through all of these tests? Why force me to find a husband? I'm only 18! You say you care about me, yet you do all of this!"

Though she could still not see his face through the tears, by the tone of this answer, she could tell that his eyes were sparkling in a different way than before.

"I only wanted to fulfill your mother's wish," he choked out. " _My_ wish."

The mention of her mother had her grasping at the bars even tighter than before.

"We...both of us, as strange as it sounds coming from me, wanted to see you get married. We knew that this would happen eventually. That... _they_ would come back. But, before that happened, we just...We…" His voice was cracking, just like hers was.

"It was a selfish wish, as I now realize, but with the death of your mother...I couldn't help myself. I had waited until you were 18, as we both planned, but once I realized how much I wanted to see you happy for once, I got impatient. I set more challenges in front of you, in the hopes that you would find someone that was strong enough to accept my outrageous terms; someone that could _make_ you happy, more than I could. The thought of seeing you in that wedding dress, with your mother's smile, it drove me insane. I _needed_ to see it, to renew my memory of her. You're getting more like her each day, and I...I couldn't help myself.

"I'm _so_ sorry. I never should have put that much pressure on you. And I have realized that too late. I know you better than you think I do, so I know forgiveness for me isn't an option, but don't blame any of this on yourself. On you looking like your mother. That was a blessing, but _I_ made it into a curse. I alone did, and I…"

He shook himself off.

"Anyway, regardless, you need to get out of here. Katherine is covering for you up in the throne room right now, so you'll have more than enough time to escape, but just to be sure-"

"She's _what_?"

Suddenly, her vision was much clearer, and again, anger took over.

"You have her doing what?!"

Her father answered her with a painful smile. "As I said, she's covering for you. This isn't quite the context I wanted to tell you, but...well, to be frank, you took after your mother a lot more than you realize. A lot more."

For a moment, Carmen's voice dipped into something more confused than angry.

"How so, exactly?"

"Well...remember how your mother loved water so much?"

Carmen nodded.

"To say this as bluntly as possible, she was a ninja. And you, as she did, inherited her clan's kekkei genkai. I don't have time to explain it right now, but you'll be noticing a few developments in the 'ability to control water' department soon, so watch out for that, but anyway-"

" _What_?"

He shook off her utterly stunned expression, and began speaking again. " _Anyway_ , to explain the Katherine situation, she's going to be covering for as long as it takes to get you to safety. They think that the one with these powers is her right now, so they won't kill her, but eventually, they'll probably figure out the fact that she's entirely powerless, and probably come after you, if they're smart enough. You have to train to become ready for that day, and I'm sure the demon prisoner knows where to take you for that-"

"He does?"

She gasped.

"Wait, you knew?"

Her father sighed. "Yes, I knew. I'm not as stupid as you think, Carmelia. But let me finish: You shouldn't worry about your sister, for she has been trained for this day her entire life. There's nothing to worry about. She'll be fine, and so will you, if you handle this correctly.

"Get out of here, _now_. With my final order as king, as I doubt my breathing will continue for long, I order you to leave. The leader is still in the throne room, as far as I am aware, but I command you to not confront him, not only as king, but as your father. You _need_ to stay safe. There will be no exceptions, and I won't allow you to take any chances. You will go, find someone who can teach you, and train until you can't train anymore. Only then, will you be able to take that man, as I am sure you have realized it is impossible for you, or even our little demon here to do so now. Now, be safe, and...Carmelia...No, _Carmen_ , know that I love you more than you realize. I am so proud of you. So, so proud."

She saw the tears in his eyes now, and she was suddenly lucky she had cried so much before, because she was sure her sockets would have been bursting at this point if there were any more tears to cry.

Trembling, she spoke, "Why did you never tell me?" trying to confirm this one fact before it was too late.

He smiled; a look of melancholy so painfully etched across his usually stern features that she almost wished she _could_ cry.

"Because I am a foolish man, my daughter. I told myself that I would, but I got so caught up in watching you grow; in watching you become so like your mother, and yet, so like your own self, that the years crumbled away before me. I could not break your spirit any earlier than this." Then, he outstretched his hand, as if to grasp hers, though the seemingly unbreakable bars separated her from the ability to walk over and grab his.

His next words were what truly broke her.

" _I'm sorry."_

Her heart, already severely damaged by all of the information that had been pounded into her skull, burst as this. And the tears she had thought were nonexistent poured down her cheeks.

"Father!" she wailed; trying to get the bars out of the way.

She pounded on them; scratched at them; even went so far as to bite them with her teeth, yet nothing worked.

"I'm sorry too! I'm sorry for being such a disobedient daughter, and for disappointing you, and for never realizing how much good you were doing me! I'm sorry for thinking I hated you! And for cursing your name! And for-"

Gaara's hand tightened on her shoulder; trying to pull her away.

"Carmen, the guards are coming. We have to go now."

"No!" she screamed. "I need to-"

"You don't need to do anything," he told her. "Your father understands."

She protested again, saying, "No, I have to-"

"Carmen!" her father interrupted; the booming sound of his voice stopping her own immediately.

"Listen to Gaara."

Then, again, his voice softened. "Don't worry. I forgive you for everything."

She choked on her words. "Father, I can't let it end like this! I need to take you with me!"

He shook his head. "No, I think it would look a little suspicious if the king was suddenly missing." He smiled sadly. "You and Gaara will go alone."

"But-"

"Not buts. Gaara?"

Gaara seemed to nod, though Carmen wasn't really looking at him, and at once, he lifted her over his shoulder, causing her shake violently. "No, Father, I can't-"

"My daughter," he cut in; one last time. "I love you so much."

Gaara ran from the cell then; taking her with him, though she was kicking and screaming.

 _I love you too, Father._

 _I love you too._


	12. Chapter 11 - A Reluctant Start

A soft voice awoke Carmen from her sleep - induced by stress, shock, and exhaustion - and she arose groggily to an expanse of trees surrounding her on all sides. Everything was green, though in many different shades, and the branches were so thickly woven together that she was sure nothing could see her where she now lay. Of course, this also meant that _she_ couldn't see anything that lay beyond it either, and the thought instantly worried her. _Anything_ could be out there: guards, enemy ninja, ferocious animals. And right now, as her training hadn't even begun, Carmen was useless.

 _Great._

It took another moment for her eyes to adjust, but after a good few minutes of hazy blinking, she made out a mop of red hair, and then a pair of teal eyes that simply stared at her; unfazed by her unladylike morning state.

"We need to continue."

...If Gaara wasn't there, Carmen was sure she never would have made it through even the castle gates. The memory of them escaping was hazy, like her vision, but she knew that she had been little to no help in her hysterical state. Since then, she had calmed down, but her mind was in no way repaired from the damage that had been caused. She still felt, even now, the heavy weight of her father's words on her shoulders.

" _I'm sorry."_

Every little thing about her surroundings seemed to bother her, though she had passed through those outer gardens more times than she could count; more days than she had lived. And yet, they seemed completely foreign to her now, like she was rushing away from a hated prison she never got the chance to explore, and in the process, leaving behind all that she cared about.

Not like it meant anything, but only about a third of that was untrue.

"Of course."

Carmen stood up as quickly as her still slightly blurred vision would allow, and took the few steps that separated her from Gaara. He took her arm as she came by him, and he guided her away from the camp she was only just now noticing. A dying fire blazed in the night air; only slight remnants of ashes still sizzling, and the area seemed just as unused as it had surely been when they first arrived. Gaara knew how to cover his tracks, apparently. Probably something he acquired during his demon years.

In truth, she very much wanted to ask him about it - about his past - but she decided against it, once she saw his face. His expression, so worried, so uncontrollable; like he didn't know what he was feeling, and he didn't know how to stop it. Like Carmen was the one causing all of this anguish, and the only reason he was still here was out of a certain degree of obligation he still felt over the fact that she had released him from prison what felt like forever ago. She wished she could tell him to go free; to do what pleased him, and start over, but she didn't have the courage. At least not yet. Maybe, if she could get to the place he had in mind, where she could find someone who could teach her the ways of the ninja, she would be ready. Maybe she'd be able to let go once she had another solid person that she could count on.

Once she knew how to defend herself from the evil force she still didn't know the name of, she'd be ready to let him choose his own path. She wouldn't allow him to tag along with her, if all her felt was obligation. And if he did leave her, she would simply find someone else. After all, it wasn't like her father would care anymore.

Carmen choked on her air.

 _...Her father-_

"Are you alright?" the concerned tone in his voice had her drawn back to present, and she drew the tears back before they could sneak out of her eyes.

"Fine, just a bit cold."

This time, were words conveyed _half_ the truth.

"Oh, well, you can have my jacket…"

Carmen had said she wouldn't mind if he left her, but yet again, she found that her words were nothing but false bravery. No one could replace Gaara. Ever. Not even someone a thousand times as beautiful, or a thousand times as sweet. Because Gaara just _was_ both of those things, all of those things, to her. He was her perfect companion. And if she lost him, she would surely collapse long before that man ever got to her.

She would give him the _option_ to leave, no doubt. But there was no denying that not even a single shred of her existence was okay with him suddenly being gone. After her father, after her mother, after her sister, and after finding out what she was...she couldn't lose anyone else. Not again. She needed Gaara more than she knew.

And if he decided he did want to leave, once she told him it was 'alright', it would break her heart.

"Is that better?"

Truth be told, as soon as he placed his cotton jacket over her shoulders, the warmth in her body doubled; like she was being heated from the inside out. Perhaps it was simply the fact that Gaara had willingly offered her something that would clearly have benefited himself if he had kept it, or perhaps it was simply the fact that the contact reminded her of one of his infamous hugs that she had gotten used to over the past week. It didn't really matter. All Carmen knew, was that she felt a heck of a lot better now that he was talking to her, and she didn't want him to stop.

"Gaara?"

His tone was level; calm. "Yes?"

"Where are we going, exactly?"

She didn't know why she was nervous, but for some reason, as she spoke, her voice cracked, like she was suddenly terrified of his reputation. She wasn't really, as she had gotten over that back in the dungeon, for the most part, but the worried feeling nonetheless was there.

Again, he spoke just as calmly, as if testifying to the fact that there was absolutely nothing to worry about.

"A village called Konoha. I have friends there."

For some reason, such a thought sounded strange. _Gaara actually had…?_

"Define 'friends'," she told him; twirling a piece of dark hair awkwardly between her fingers. She didn't exactly want him to think that _she_ thought he was a bit of a loner, but it wasn't like he didn't already know. Gaara was one to notice such things from the beginning, and due to the fact that he hardly showed emotion anyway, something told her that he wouldn't care as much as a normal guy his age.

What was he again, 22? Carmen was pretty sure that was what the warden had said, and yet, such a time when she was back in the dungeons felt like years ago. Like decades upon decades had passed, and she had missed her chance at love the very moment she chose Gaara; a man that was probably no good for her, considering his background, and her current status. A princess shouldn't be off gallivanting in the countryside with a man hardly short of a serial killer! It was unethical, and yet, here Carmen was, doing just that; except for the fact that gallivanting may have been too loose of a term.

Perhaps: _running for dear life with the occasional hug,_ would be better.

He answered with a lopsided frown that was more of a grin than anything else. "Shocking, I know. But I do have friends, believe it or not."

She smirked; happy she could actually tease him in light of the circumstance. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Gaara nodded solemnly. "As expected. But do know that your life _is_ riding on the idea that they actually exist. They're the ones that would be teaching you, you know."

The mention of the fact that she was a ninja had her shivering, and the pleasant mood dropped again. She didn't want to even think about training right now. All Carmen wanted to do, was sit with Gaara, right here, right now, and to continue living. Just to continue walking through the dense trees, seeing the sights, smelling the smells...To keep living in this...In this _dream_.

That's what it was.

All of this, from start to finish, had been a dream. Her father was still sitting on his throne, alive and well, her sister was as carefree as she always was, and Carmen would soon wake up to find both of them ready to greet her. She would arise to the usual chaos that _was_ breakfast at the castle, and wear one of her pretty silk dresses that cost a fortune to buy, but only a moment to tear, and she would skip through the halls with Gaara, as their wedding was soon approaching. They'd continue rehearsing for the ceremony, and Carmen would hold Gaara's hand throughout it, explaining things as they came to them, and when he himself asked for help.

Yes. After some thought, Carmen found that she firmly believed the current events were simply part of a dream, despite the fact that every single moment that passed was frightening painful; frighteningly _real_. She forced herself, even to a point where she was almost in tears once more, to _not_ think of what might happen. This was a dream, she tried to tell herself. Her father was fine. Her sister was fine. Everyone was fine. _She_ was fine.

 _But it was such a lie._

She knew, though she _despised_ even the mere thought of it, that this wasn't a dream; this was reality. Her father was locked in a dungeon, half dead, and she might never see him again, not to even mention the fact that her sister was in enemy clutches, taking Carmen's burden on herself. The events were so terrible that Gaara was actually showing expression on his face - meaning even he was affected - and she, most of all, was not okay. Not even close.

She had said she wanted so terribly to be a ninja before, but now that she knew the prices that the power came with, she was no longer very gung ho about the idea. Even the simple fact that she had the potential to become one had been hidden from her her entire life, and to spring it on her so suddenly like this was like pouring water on a sleeping person. And Carmen hated when that happened.

Long story short, she didn't want to be a ninja; not anymore, and not because of the reasons she had to be. she didn't want this responsibility, and she didn't want to constantly live in fear of the day that that man would return for her. She didn't want to worry every waking moment for the family she had lost to his clutches, or to spend her entire life debating over the fact that her mother might have been killed by that very man. That there was more to her death than just some random disease. That everything in her life had been connected, and yet Carmen had never noticed it until someone had pointed it out to her.

Carmen just wanted to be free again. Like she was when she was a child, and when she and Katherine used to care about nothing other than the smiles on their faces. When her mother was still around, and when Carmen could look in the mirror and see someone worth looking at, because she was actually _told_ to value her own self.

She missed the days in which she could be so carefree terribly, yet even thinking about them arose more unwanted thoughts. Thinking about her mother led her to wonder; _how much of her relationship with her had been a lie? How much of it had really been her mother's own happiness? Was she even a person Carmen could say she truly knew?_

Carmen couldn't tell what was real and what was fake anymore, and suddenly, the entire world seemed to be entirely against the idea of her ever finding satisfaction. Gaara cared about her more than she allowed herself to believe, but she didn't know for certain how long he would be willing to stay. Her father _definitely_ cared about her more than she ever knew, and it was the same with her sister, though their bond had been real; though based off of many hidden secrets. However, her mother was a complete mystery, as she really had no idea who she even was anymore. The only remaining memories Carmen held of her were fading fast, and she knew that they would be gone before she even realized it.

How she wished she could ask someone for help.

Carmen needed closure on so many things, and yet the only people that could possibly answer her questions were either dead, close to being dead, or being held hostage. Gaara, she could talk to, but she wouldn't receive any answers; at least not in the terms she wanted.

What she needed right now, was the impossible, which meant that she wouldn't be obtaining it.

All Carmen had, at this point, was Gaara. And though she knew that she loved the man to death, and would be devastated if he left, he just wasn't what she needed _right now._

Carmen could only hope that this _Konoha_ would have at least _some_ of the answers.


	13. Chapter 12 - Konoha

More than anything else, the feeling of not knowing where she was going scared Carmen.

There, hidden in the lush forest that led to Konoha, was this terrifying awareness of her own ignorance, that continued to plague her, no matter where they stopped to rest, or on what side she slept on. It didn't change, whether she refused to think about it, or if she faced her own feelings head on. It was always there. That uncertainty, and that deep hesitance to move any further. A lack of assurance in simple facts which she wouldn't even be worrying about, had this never happened. And most of all, more than the clutching of her heart, and the throbbing of her head, there was a _fear_ like she had never dreamed of. Something that ran so deep inside of her, that saying it was only felt in her heart and mind felt like an understatement. _This_ fear was like a deadly poison, spreading throughout her body like a wildfire, lighting her soul in places she never even knew existed, and opening her mind to the entirety of the dangers she now faced. And, even though she had always held strong to her high sense of responsibility, Carmen honestly felt like bolting right now.

 _She just wasn't strong enough to handle this._

After what had happened to her father and sister, and after what she had learned of her past, Carmen's emotional state hadn't been the greatest. Sure, she hid her fear decently enough on the outside, whereas in terms of Gaara - who had still only known her for a limited amount of time, though he felt like a terribly old friend - had no idea that she was even worrying at all, but still, there was no denying what she herself felt. Carmen knew herself better than anyone else, and she was proud to say that. But right now, she almost wished she knew herself...just a _tiny_ bit less. Just enough where this journey to Konoha wouldn't even bother her, and the thought of becoming a ninja under these horrible circumstances, was as far as possible from her mind. Just enough, where she wouldn't feel that horrible twinge of hurt in her chest whenever she heard a name that sounded anything remotely like her father's; or like her mother's; or like her sister's; even her own. She couldn't stand to hear any of them, even if only uttered by accident. It hurt her too much, and again, more than anything else, she did not want to be reminded of who she was. She didn't want to be Carmelia Welkin anymore. She didn't want to be the target of some evil organization, or take any part in being born into the wrong clan. She didn't care about the benefits it may have brought. She just wanted out of this terrible life. She didn't want to be _her_ anymore.

Why couldn't she have just been born into a simple, middle class family? She could have grown up in the kingdom with all the other commoners, hated the king - who was most definitely _not_ her father - _just like_ all the others. She could have been born into a crowd, never to be noticed, and had her life planned out for her from the very beginning. She would wake up every morning with a concrete job to do; whether it be washing clothes, or making meals, and no one would question her ability to complete it. She would have a purpose there, within the walls, where nothing ever went wrong. She would hear all of the good gossip, go to school, have normal experiences, and maybe even, someday, settle down with a family of her own on a nice plot of land just on the outskirts of the main city.

They would own a few animals, a goat for milk, and chickens for eggs, and they would make a living off of a simple, country life. One that had nothing to do with ninjas, and nothing to do with a man whose eyes were as black as the depths of the night, and at the same time, as blinding as the midday sun. She would know nothing of the life she now lived, and she would be happy. Happy and ignorant. And even though she would _know_ , somewhere deep inside of her that something, _something_ was missing, she would not question it. After all, she had a job to do there. She had mouths to feed; a husband to love; and kids, to which she could pamper with all of her being. She had all she needed. There was nothing else she necessarily _needed_ to survive. And yet, she would never truly be complete.

That happiness would never reach the highest peak of the mountaintop, and she would never relinquish the sadness that she tried to ignore; tried to hide. It would swelter inside of her, eat away at her, until she could no longer bare it. She would be left in a disarray, in tatters, on the brink of insanity; her family terrified of their own wife; their own mother.

And it would be then that she would finally realize what was missing.

A certain man, by the name of Gaara, with cold green eyes and a mop of hair so red she would often mistake his own head for a nesting cardinal, was absent from her life, and she would want nothing but to reach out for him; to correct the mistake she had made years and years ago, and had forgotten with the unforgiving and relentless flow of time.

But by then, it would be too late.

By that time, her potential as a ninja would have been flushed down the toilet with age, and even though she had finally racked enough courage to be _willing_ , she would never be able to learn. By then, her father would have been long since killed, and Katherine as well, as they couldn't have possibly been deceived by the switching act for more than a year, at the most. The evil man would be the new king, and though she had never realized it - never _allowed_ herself to realize - it would be all her fault. The weight of what she had done would come crashing down on her, and as instantly as she had made the decision to run away, she would come to hate herself for what she had caused. To regret terribly her actions, and to want to take back time.

But, as mentioned, it was just too late.

If Carmen allowed herself, as well her fear, to escalate to such a point where she was even considering running away, there would be no saving the people she cared about. There would be no great, well-planned rescue, after she had trained in the ways of the ninja. There would be nothing. Nothing but a life of lies, and a family that she cared absolutely nothing for compared to the one she had right now.

Truly, if Carmen ran, it would be the end of it all.

If she ran, she would never be able to forgive herself. Never be able to atone for her sins. Never be able to meet her father or sister again, and most certainly, never be able to gain Gaara's complete trust. He would begin to doubt her, slowly but surely, and one day, that obligation he still felt towards her would all be welled up until nothing remained. He would no longer feel the need to stay with her, and he would leave her; causing a thick layer of frost to descend over her, rendering her immobile and helpless, whilst killing her in the worst way.

Translation: The death started in the heart.

The pain of loss would consume her, and with a burden that was much more than physical pain, she would suffer for the rest of her life, until the depression wasted away the last of her will to live. Nothing would be meaningful, after he left her. Absolutely nothing. Without Gaara, Carmen was just a girl without a purpose; now not even one that could call herself a princess.

She was a meaningless existence, and it was logical that he would want to get rid of her. After all, it was just like discarding a used napkin, or trading in a household item for a newer, better version of itself. With his looks, he could easily snag another princess or two; maybe even one that was actually the heir to the throne. There, in _those_ castles, he would be happy; much happier than he had ever been while spending the days hauled up in a room with Carmen, and as the years went by, the memory he still held of her would vanish into nothingness.

Before long, the memory of Carmen Welkin - the legacy that she had so dreamed of - would be nothing more than a bad dream. A one-night terror that had fortunately ended as quickly as it had begun. Gaara, happy man as he then would be, would have no problem letting the memory go. He would toss even the _thought_ of her aside, just like a tarnished piece of clothing, and would seek to find more magnificent things that could offer him more than a painfully slow trip to Konoha, and a single pair of fine clothes to take with him. Gaara would look for the best, and Carmen would be thrown out a window. It was just how life worked; and as fate so often liked to tell her: _There was no going back._

If Gaara made the decision to leave her, there would be no second chance for Carmen to please him. If she wanted him to stay, she would have to think of some incentive to bribe him with. And if she didn't think of it soon, fate would very quickly be having its fun in crushing all of her dreams. She didn't have time. And, unfortunately, nor did she had ideas. Carmen had virtually nothing, except for the ability to expect the worse.

And, right now, something was telling her that having such a preparedness might not be too bad of an idea.

...Slowly, she rose to her feet, after having taken a brief rest on the side of the weed-infested "path" they traveled on.

She nodded at Gaara, somewhat frightfully, and she brushed off the remnants of dirt that still clung to the cloak she was wearing. Recently, Gaara had revealed that he had snagged a few shawls and such that the evil organization had in turn stolen from _her,_ and she had been wearing one ever since. It was navy blue, tied in the front with a simple clip, and was made in the softest cotton she had ever felt. Carmen was almost upset at her father - though in light of the situation she said nothing to Gaara - for keeping such a worthy and fine product from her.

"How much further is it?" she questioned wearily.

After having wasted all of her resting time on pressured thoughts, she had gained no relief from the brief pause in physical activity.

Gaara glanced at her; looking half suspicious, and half glad that she had finally spoken up. "Not much at all," he replied; pointing ahead with an extended pointer finger at a strange area, not too far ahead, which brought in more light than she had become accustomed to on this journey; almost as if there was a gap in the trees.

 _Already?_ she asked herself, and then voiced her thoughts by commenting, "I thought the journey would have taken longer."

It had only been a few days - a week tops, but she had lost track of how many times the sun had risen and fallen - and yet it felt like an eternity, and a single instant, all in one. So many things had happened, so many thoughts had ran rampant in her mind, and now, it was all over in the blink of an eye. Once she crossed those gates; those large, metal swinging gates that were becoming more and more visible with every step she took, that would be it. The journey would be over. And she, terrified as she was, would have to begin a new segment of her life, whether she was willing or not.

Carmen wasn't at all ready to face her new teachers; the ones that would aid her in her quest to become stronger, not only as a person, but also as a fighter, and neither was she prepared for Gaara to leave her. She wasn't ready for anything, and yet, it had sprung upon her like a trained predator, hidden from view in the tall, winding grasses of the savannah. One leap, one pounce, and that would be it. She would be launched into something that would surely equal her demise, and after that moment, nothing would ever be the same again.

Her feet stopped her just as they reached the gates. She could not move; couldn't think. Everything was a blur; except for those frighteningly large metal doors that seemed to loom over her like a bad omen. They squeaked ever so slightly as the wind blew through the cracks in the gears.

Gaara stopped as well; turning to her sharply. "Carmen," he began, taking hold of her shoulders.

 _As if shaking her would bring her back to the present._

"Before we go in there, I have to tell you something about my... _friends_."

She nodded; only half registering what he had said. More than anything, she was focusing on the yellow blur that was moving towards her at a rapid speed; too calming to be the sun, and too rambunctious to be the moon.

It interrupted Gaara in the words he spoke, in a fashion a little something like _this_ :

"You, see, they can get a little-"

"GAARA!"

In an instant, the yellow blur was upon them, and suddenly, as Carmen looked up - shaking the haziness away - there was a blonde male hugging Gaara. His hair was spiky, with twice as much volume as Gaara's, and his eyes shined with a soothing confidence that had her wishing instantly that she could be the one hugging him instead. They were a blue as deep and vast as the sea, and immediately, she found that she felt as though she was looking upon a heavenly being.

Carmen brought up a hand to shield her eyes from the suddenly blinding light; feeling slightly dizzy once more.

This wasn't exactly what she had expected, when she had heard of Gaara's friends. This boy was nothing at all like him - not necessarily better, but definitely different - and she had a hard time accepting what was truth, and what was just sprouting from her dizzy confusion. This boy was certainly real, but she felt as though this encounter wasn't. It just...didn't feel right. Something about the way he stood bothered her, and she was having a difficult time even standing on her own two feet.

"Well, come on!" the blonde boy shouted; dragging Gaara by the arm.

 _Was she even there?_

"Let's go see everyone else!"

 _Was she still alive?_

Gaara muttered out a begrudging, "Fine."

And it was at that exact moment, despite her terrible confusion, that she took her first steps into the city that was Konohagakure: The Village Hidden in the Leaves.


	14. Chapter 13 - The First Lesson

Carmen had discovered early on in the day that Naruto was a rather talkative fellow, as he was able to start a conversation from what she considered to be nothing. She would ask him about something simple; something terribly small and insignificant, like the weather, or how he was doing, and somehow, he would transform her words into the start of a lengthy discussion about his life story.

Over the course of the past few hours, she had learned more about him than she was sure she would ever know about herself, and even though the majority of it was terribly boring, she found that she was getting valuable information out of it; somehow. Even though she was a princess, she had had no knowledge whatsoever on the village of Konoha, so the slightly vague description of the tree-filled town was at the very least, doing her some good. Now, after a lengthy talk with Konoha resident Naruto Uzumaki, Carmen knew of their legal and government system - which was relatively the same as the one stationed in Central Suna. There, the palace of the Kazekage was stationed, while her father - along with all of the other kings and queens before him - had ruled towards the east in a branch-off kingdom. And, though said kingdom was smaller than Central, it was nearly just as important.

But, whatever the case was, her father being important or not, Konoha did not have any kings. The monarch system had been thrown out, apparently, and though Naruto himself knew close to nothing on the subject, he had at least informed her that the highest officials Konoha contained besides the Hokage were feudal lords; which allowed Carmen to feel slightly better about knowing nothing about Konoha. If there were no kings or queens, then her father did not do business with them. And, therefore, Carmen had no obligation to know anything about their way of life. Truly, she hadn't just been slacking in her studies. Knowing nothing wasn't _exactly_ her fault.

 _She just…_

Okay, so maybe she was slacking a _little_ bit.

Of course, in her defense, it didn't really matter at this point. Here in Konoha, she was finally accepted for who she was, and not who she made herself through her studies. She didn't have to worry about anything having to do with population, or economical issues. She was safe. And, as noted, Naruto had already informed her about all there was to know. Carmen had a solid idea about how Konoha functioned, and that was good enough for her. And, anyway, she now had a decently large group of people that she could turn to for help, if she ever needed it.

Besides Naruto, at the current point, Carmen had met a total of _seven_ different Konoha citizens, and for her, that was no small feat.

First, there had been Izumo and Kotetsu, and, even though they had not left a lasting impression on her, as they were only monitoring who came in and out the gates, she had deemed them to be decent people. Naruto himself had introduced her to the others; two of them being female, and the other three being male, and she had welcomed the experience of meeting new people. Sakura Haruno had been first - a pink haired girl with a bright personality - and next had been Hinata Hyuuga; who was adorably shy, though once Carmen noted that it was fine to be informal, had opened up for her to see that she was a genuinely kind person. So far, Hinata had been her favorite.

After the girls had become acquainted, a group of three men had stepped forward, and soon enough, they had been introduced - again by Naruto - as Shikamaru Nara, an intellectual but lazy type, Kiba Inuzuka, a boisterous young man with a wolf of a dog, and Sasuke Uchiha; who stood off to one side with a blank expression on his face, not different than Gaara's. They were all terribly different characters, but they somehow complimented each other, and Carmen returned their handshakes of greeting with a warm smile. She wasn't used to meeting people besides royals - who judged you if you weren't rich enough - and commoners - who judged you _because_ you were rich - so she readily welcomed the feeling of togetherness that was present in the air. Each of these people, woman or man, ninja or not, cared about each other. That much, she could tell from a single glance. And, even though she was frankly still terrified, she knew that she couldn't have asked for better teachers than the ones that stood before her now.

Carmen smiled at the lot of them, and the majority of them - excluding Sasuke and Gaara - returned the gesture with open arms. They accepted her. They would help her. They didn't care about her past. And as long as she was in their capable hands, despite Naruto's being a bit shaky, she knew she would be safe.

 _Well…_

 _For the most part, anyway._

"Carmen."

Suddenly, as if trying to say that her personal thought time was at an end, came Gaara's voice; calling to her. Immediately she turned, somewhat concerned as to why he was approaching her with a worried tone of voice, only to be welcomed with a glare from Sasuke she had only gotten partially used to. Gaara's eyes were narrowed, and his brow was as furrowed as she had ever seen it, but he did not comment on the situation, and instead, walked forward to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, that quite frankly, did nothing to reassure her.

"Sasuke has requested to be your first teacher," Gaara spit out; almost with hate.

She looked between the two of them warily, half suspecting a brawl, before she reluctantly nodded; turning to Sasuke at once. She bowed deeply to him, as she had been taught at the castle, and did not rise until both she had spoken, and he had responded.

"I'll be in your care, then."

"Hn," was his answer.

Carmen arose, again warily, and cast her eyes to Gaara, who looked equally as uncomfortable. For whatever reason, Sasuke - of all people - had volunteered to teach her first; a girl that quite literally had no experience whatsoever. Carmen wasn't one to judge, (okay, at least not very often) but from she had seen and heard about this particular Uchiha so far, he wasn't the type to willingly participate in such a thing. So, unless he wanted to kill her, along with the rest of her family, to gain the right to Suna's throne, this situation made absolutely no sense. Sasuke didn't seem the type that would have the patience to instruct someone how to properly hold a weapon, nor did he come across as a man with a heart of goodwill. Quite honestly, he just looked like a prick. And, as much as she was sure he didn't want to teach her, she in turn didn't want him to. In fact, at this point, Carmen would have been _happier_ if he _was_ plotting her death. That would have made things a lot easier, and she wouldn't have to go through the awkwardness that was surely to come with him watching her every move.

However, despite her hopes - foolish as they were - something told her he was at the very least genuine about wanting to teach her. She didn't have the slightest clue why, of course, but she also knew that he had no plans of killing her, or even harming her at all, for that matter. Carmen wasn't sure how, but she could see it in his eyes. See the way he looked at all of the others, and even at her on the rare occasion, with a softness in his eyes that he was sure no one had noticed. Sasuke, truly, had no plans of murder, whether or not the result would be worth soiling his reputation.

 _And anyway, even if had wanted to, some other foreign organization had already beaten him to it._

Carefully, and with a solid despite slightly sheepish smile to Gaara, who returned it with a slight grimace, Carmen trotted after the young Uchiha as he began to make his exit from the open field they had previously been standing in. The cover of the trees was soon upon them once more, and to keep up with his fast stride, Carmen had to walk in double time.

Of course, as it was in her nature, she tried to make conversation with Sasuke as they were walking, asking roughly the same questions she had asked with Naruto, but he didn't respond to a single one, and after some trial and error, Carmen decided to give up. There simply was no winning with the man that walked before her, and she was sure that at times, and at choice moments, he was probably worse than even Gaara in that respect. Of course, they both had their good points, like Gaara's sweetness, and Sasuke's apparent silent care and appreciation, but they were both probably equally stubborn, and though it was cute at times, in Gaara's case, she wasn't quite sure if she could handle two of them.

Sure, she had been educated on how to deal with such a thing, or rather, such a _personality_ over the limited time she had spent with Gaara, but that wasn't proper training and experience that she could use for a person other than him, or namely, for Sasuke. They were definitely similar men, but they also had distinct differences, and somehow, Carmen felt that if she considered them to be one and the same, it would be an insult to both of them.

 _And, well, as one of them was currently her_ _fiancé_ … _She didn't exactly want to cause unnecessary trouble._

...Before long, another clearing appeared, and together, Carmen and Sasuke stepped out into it; albeit on unsteady legs, in her case.

Somehow, just being there, knowing that she was training to eventually fight the men who had just recently beaten her father half to, if not all the way, to death, was terribly daunting. She didn't want this. She never had. But if she was ever going to grow up, she needed to face this challenge head on. That's what she owed her father, and her mother, and her sister. That's what she owed Gaara, and all of the other important people in her life, including the ones she had met today.

Most importantly, that's what she owed herself.

So, though still on wobbly legs, she braced herself for what was to come; as if the no name organization was before her right now. She looked Sasuke dead in the eyes, and she set her jaw firmly, as if she wasn't trembling in fear. Her fists became clenched, and the color drained quickly away from the fingers that were being put under the harsh strain. A breath was drawn, and with ominous, yet impeccable timing, he spoke.

"So then, you're Gaara's... _friend_?"

Her stance faltered, and suddenly the dream situation shattered.

 _Had he called her out here...Just to…?_

As that was at least _somewhat_ close to the actual case, she nodded slowly; just as confused as she had been when it was first announced that he wanted to teach her. An eyebrow was raised in his direction, and despite the stoic attitude he constantly displayed, the ghost of a smirk appeared on his lips.

"Calm down, it was an innocent question."

Carmen replied with another inquisitive look, but she said nothing. Instead, her eyes were trained on the way he held his arms behind his back, and even more so, she stared at him with a puzzled expression. This man, Sasuke Uchiha, simply made no sense. She didn't get him. She didn't understand how he functioned, and most of all, she didn't understand why he was suddenly acting so smug.

"What do you-?"

Without leaving her time to finish her question, the arms were withdrawn from behind his back faster than her eyes could follow, and in the next half an instant, he had whipped open a container of some strange liquid; clear, and presumably water.

Carmen reflexively raised her arms and backed away, but there was little she could do with the lack of time she currently had, so she braced herself for the splash of unforgiving liquid that she was knew was to come.

However, after seconds upon seconds in which that should have happened...it didn't.

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, which had squeezed shut on instinct right after she realized what was happening, and with a gasp, she stumbled back on her heels. There, right in front of her eyes, within her grasp, was the water. But, instead of it being in the process of soaking her, it was simply sitting there in the air; suspended, as if scared.

She looked back at Sasuke once more.

"How are you doing that?" she asked frightfully; somehow more scared of the ninja arts now that she had seen another type in person. It was beautiful, surely, but even still, the fact that the water was refusing to move from its position in the air was too unreal to comprehend. Carmen had never seen such a phenomenon in her life, and she wasn't exactly gung ho about the idea of-

"I'm not doing anything."

Sasuke's sudden confession caused her thoughts to fall short; much like the water.

"What do you mean?" Her voice cracked slightly, but even if he noticed it, he did not comment on it.

"That water is suspended there because you're making it do so."

 _Though it was unladylike, her mouth fell open._

Carmen's entire expression asked the question, ' _How_?' so without waiting for her to voice her thoughts, as that may have taken an eternity, he added, "Gaara briefed me in on the fact that your father said your kekkei genkai had to do with water, so I wanted to test it. Low and behold, I have my answer. Either you're a natural, or this works similar to Gaara's sand. Either way, we've made a breakthrough, and I don't think this training will take as long as we thought it would."

For once, he smiled at her.

"I know you're probably tired, so I won't make you actually train with me today. We can save that for tomorrow, so, I guess, get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

Sasuke quickly saluted her with a flick of his wrist, and in seconds, he was gone, leaving Carmen alone with her jumbled thoughts. The water, strangely, disappeared with him, and for a second, she stared at the place it had been; as if wondering if it had ever truly been there.

Honestly, she just didn't know what to make of this. She didn't know what to think, what to say, or even how she personally was going to cope with the pressure that surely accompanied what she was doing right now. Carmen simply didn't know.

Right now, all she knew for certain was that she had to tell Gaara the news.

And even though _she_ was terrified, she could only hope that _he_ wouldn't be.


	15. Chapter 14 - Her Good Luck Charm

After finding Gaara - some time after her mid lesson surprise - Carmen had relayed all of the details in a flourish. She ran to him with her arms open and wide, practically tackled him, and then proceeded to explain how she had somehow stopped the water from hitting her; though she truly didn't know how herself. In that time, she hardly even took time to breathe, and her words were so tightly packed upon one another that Gaara was unable to cut in at all.

Needless to say, his response was not exactly immediate.

Carmen, without realizing that she was basically straddling him, then went on and on about how wonderful the experience had been, and how, like Gaara's sand, the water had refused to harm her, even though it was clearly thrown with the intent to drench her. She made sure to fully express just how much fun she was sure she would have while living in Konoha, and how she couldn't understand why her laughter now drowned out the voice of her fear. She told him, that for some reason, she was simply ecstatic, and that, even if that evil force was to come today while she was unprepared, she was sure she wouldn't mind. Better to die on a happy note, she told him, and with a smile that could have cured world hunger - if harnessed - she continued on and on with her thoughts. And at that point, Gaara could barely breathe.

"Gaara, you should have been there!" she exclaimed loudly; her hands flinging about in the air. Still, she did not seem to notice the close proximity between the faces of the two. "And I mean, yeah, I was terrified, but seriously, if only you could have seen it!" She grinned again, looking straight at Gaara. Vaguely, she felt him shift underneath her, but she paid no mind to it.

Again she continued, somehow forgetting about how apprehensive she had been feeling previously. "I can't wait to start learning to control it," she told him, and then another thought crossed her mind. "Actually, Sasuke said I could start training with him tomorrow, but I wonder if anyone else would be willing to beforehand?" Carmen looked to Gaara for an answer, but he gave her none. _Strange, but oh well._

She continued talking.

"Naruto also told me that he had a sensei once too...And that his name was something that started with a K. I can't really remember - I'm terrible with names, really - but Naruto assured me that he was an excellent teacher, and I can't wait to meet him. Also, Hinata said she'd talk to me about the origins of these _kekkei genkai_ things...Apparently she has one, and so does Sasuke, but no one will actually show me, which is a little disheartening, but I guess if-"

"Carmen?"

"Hmm?" she asked; not at all upset that she had been interrupted mid sentence. The ending was still on her tongue, and she was pretty certain it wasn't all that significant anyway. She looked lazily down at Gaara, only to have her eyes widen with the realization of what he was cutting across her words for.

"Can you get off me?" he managed; his cheeks reddened from either the strain of her body on an uncomfortable spot, or the embarrassment of their situation. Carmen felt her face flush as well. She scrambled off of him, murmuring an apology as she did so. Her eyes fell to the ground after she helped him stand up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I was hurting you, I was just so excited, and I wanted to tell you what happened…" her voice trailed off as she continued to look at the ground ashamedly. "Really, I am sorry."

A sudden gust of wind tussled her hair. She chanced a glance up at him.

Gaara stood in front of her, now some distance away, still looking a little flustered, and most certainly still red in the cheeks. He continuously wrung his hands, as if he was desperately trying to take his mind away from the situation, and he too refused to look up at her for more than a few seconds. His dirtied outfit, the same one that he had been wearing all of this time, fluttered awkwardly in the wind, as it attesting to the uncomfortable situation, and just as Gaara found the courage to meet her gaze, Carmen looked back down to the ground again.

The only thing that saved them was a loud call from an infamous Konoha resident.

"Gaara!" Naruto wailed; running over to the both of them without realizing the tense atmosphere was still present. The blonde ninja stopped just before he reached him.

"Oh, Carmen," he acknowledged. "You're here too, huh?" Naruto looked between the two of them; still not realizing anything. "That's cool. I guess you guys are better friends than I thought."

 _Better than friends,_ thought Carmen. _Try_ _fiancé,_ _Naruto._

She kept quiet.

"Anyway, I came to tell Gaara that the Hokage requested to see him. Something about, 'Unspecified circumstances that need to be cleared up' or something. I don't really know, but I guess it has to do with Carmen, so she can come too, if she wants. You know, meet Granny-Hokage and all that great stuff." He looked over to Gaara, and then there was a flash in his eyes, as if he just remembered something. "You know, speaking of Kages, Carmen, did you know that Gaara is actually-"

"Naruto!" Gaara harshly cut him off; shooting a warning glare to silence him, and making the bubbling anger on the inside known. Naruto stiffened suddenly.

"Ah, right, right!" he said sheepishly."I was thinking of your, um, brother!" He looked around frantically. "Yeah, your brother, right?" His eyes suddenly fell to his wrist. "Look at the time!" _She didn't see a watch there._ "I have to go, but, good luck!"

In an unorganized flourish, Naruto shook Carmen's hand, saluted to Gaara, and then made a quick hand sign, which resulted in another Naruto appearing beside him. Carmen, as she had never actually seen this in real life before, had to stifle a gasp, but instead of continuing on with his little display, Naruto simply cursed, muttering, "Wrong jutsu. Don't forget about the Hokage!" before there was another puff of smoke, and much like Sasuke, he had disappeared before it cleared up. Carmen waved the rest of it away, still a little embarrassed about straddling her future husband, but now more curious about Naruto's prior statement than anything.

"What did he mean by-" she tried, only to be again cut off by Gaara, who was no longer in a civil mood.

"He meant nothing," he said firmly; again refusing to look at her, but for a seemingly different reason. "Like he said, he was talking about my brother. And anyway, it's not important."

Despite his words, Carmen could see that it was in fact, _very_ important, and that it hadn't just happened to his brother. It had happened to him, and for some reason, he was hiding it. For some reason, even though he had told her that he intended to stay with her for a very long time, he didn't want to confide in her. He didn't trust her; at least not yet. And with this information, she could only come to the conclusion that that meant it had been pretty serious.

Suddenly - or at least suddenly to him - she sighed, deciding for once to be the mature person and simply let things go. Carmen nodded; hoping that he was looking up at her as she did so, and to her luck, it seemed that he was.

"Anyway," he said; letting the anger simmer back below the surface. "We should both get some sleep. The visit with the Hokage can wait until tomorrow."

Carmen replied, "That's probably for the best."

And together they walked to their designated place of rest.

Within the sanctity of her thoughts, Carmen allowed herself to continue to analyze Gaara's words; how he had looked while he said them; how the tone of his voice could hint at his emotional state while saying them. For some reason, she could not seem to let this go, and, even though she was sure Gaara wouldn't be too happy about her prying, she was sure that she would at least have to try to ask around about the incident. Obviously, it had something to do with an official; a Kage, and something to do with Gaara himself. Something had happened; something that he didn't even want _her_ to know, and if he wouldn't tell her, she would simply have to discover an answer for herself.

 _Yeah,_ she teased herself. _She should get some sleep._

 _But it wasn't like rest would ever come to a woman with so much on her mind._

True to his words the previous night, Gaara and Carmen visited the Hokage the first thing in the morning. They woke up - though she, at the very least, had never fallen asleep in the first place - at the crack of dawn, and together, they traveled to the large palace-like building that was said to house the Hokage. Carmen had to rub her eyes constantly to keep herself awake.

Of course, as it had been a long night for both of them, despite what Carmen did and didn't know about Gaara's unfortunate case of insomnia, any awkwardness from prior moments disappeared, and without restraint, Carmen allowed herself to walk freely by his side, still thinking about what Naruto had said, but more than anything else, just trying to keep herself standing. In prior instances, in which it had been necessary to wake up this early, she had always gone to bed at a proper hour, and had slept like a baby from that time until her maids woke her up. Never before had she had anything to dwell on; anything that could keep her up for hours on end into the night, and that wasn't even to mention the quality difference between the feeble inns of Konoha and her own silk comforters. Of course, she was grateful that she was even being given a place to stay in her circumstances, but even still, going from high quality products to the low-end commoner purchases, where saving money was the most important factor, was a drastic change to say the least. Again, she was terribly grateful, but it would definitely take some getting used to, and she was not exactly looking forward to it.

 _They approached the entrance._

On another note, after her little _skirmish_ with Gaara, Carmen had vowed to herself that she wouldn't cause him any more trouble. Of course, there were going to be times when she would _have_ to impose on him - like now, for example - but for the most part, she thought it best if she refrained from doing anything too intimate with him; anything too close. She didn't want to scare him away, because, even if she did now have a few others that she could count on as her teachers, she doubted even a single one of them would be willing to become her husband. Gaara was the only one that fit that role, and, even if she still did not feel anything largely romantic for him as of yet, she was quite certain that he was only one she would want to. Gaara was simply... _different_ , from all of the other bachelors; all the other men that she could have had. It was a good different, no doubt, and Carmen herself was still busy figuring out all of the strange quirks that were hidden by his deadly scowl. She wasn't finished with him yet, and she had a strong feeling that she never would be. Carmen wanted Gaara as her husband; to stay by her side forever, not just for a time.

 _Anyway, if that was to happen, the trick right now was to keep him from running away._

Still tired, though the sun had helped her stay awake, she sighed into the morning air; seeming to stun Gaara slightly, as the both of them had been silent the entire trip. He cleared his throat; reaching out to grab the handle of the entrance door.

"You first," he told her, and, even though she wanted to protest the fact that she had never been inside the building, and would therefore have no clue which way to go, she said nothing. Gaara followed her inside, once she had stepped in, and he closed the door behind them. The sound of it shutting was as definite as the ruling of a judge's gavel.

To her relief, Gaara once again took the lead, and he, though they still weren't exactly on speaking terms, led her gracefully through the winding halls that led to the Hokage's office. Carmen followed behind him, a few paces back as she felt a little out of place, and before long, they came upon a glorified wooden door that sat around the corner of a rounded passage. She didn't pay much attention to the others standing outside of it, but she did however take notice of the fact that Gaara had boldly walked up to it a fist already raised; knocking loudly as if he had done this many times before. A deep, but obviously feminine voice came back out through the wood in response to the knocks, telling Gaara to state his name and business.

"It's Gaara," he said simply. "I'm here about my... _companion_."

Carmen could almost see the Hokage nod through the door in confirmation. "Come in then, I don't have all day."

 _Nor did she,_ Carmen thought, regarding her training and the limited amount of time she had to do it, but again, much like she seemed to be doing a lot lately, she simply held her tongue. Again, Gaara took it upon himself to grab the door and hold it open for her, and once more, she had to bite back a complaint. Yes, she wanted to meet the Hokage, and yes, she wanted her assistance with the situation, but she was nowhere near the level of courage it took to do such a thing; to face something as grand as this head on, not to mention first.

She glanced at Gaara warily, who for once, rather than look away in embarrassment or irritation, held her gaze properly. He nodded, and, as if opening a bag of all good things in the world for only a second to give a dying man hope, he smiled at her; genuinely.

 _This time, rather than hold her words, Carmen had to stop herself from hugging him._

Sure, this was terrifying. Sure, her circumstances were by no means a walk in the park. But maybe, just maybe, she could get Gaara to stay. Perhaps she could even get him to stay forever. Even with just with that, with just that one ray of sunshine that only showed itself for an instant on the most rainy of days, she would stand tall. She could continue on, pushing forward into the future; learning more each day, until she was finally ready to face the evil that had taken her family from her.

That was what she would do, and she would do it _with_ Gaara, not without him.

 _After all, he was her good luck charm, was he not?_


End file.
